


Battle Alchemy

by LoudSymphony



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga, ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 | JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken | JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Family Reunions, Gen, Next-Gen fic, Post-Promised Day, Those JoJo Segments They Use To Give Exposition, Underage Drinking, two struggling authors
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-04
Updated: 2019-06-11
Packaged: 2019-10-22 06:50:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17658005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoudSymphony/pseuds/LoudSymphony
Summary: Several years after The Promised Day, another threat rises. Yet again, it was a folly on behalf of King Xerxes, and once again a future generation must step up to the challenge. But can they master ancient martial arts, resolve their internal group conflicts, and figure out their places in the world, all while attempting to fight The Pillar Men? There's only one way to find out!





	1. Origins

**Author's Note:**

> Tabby: Hey guys! So, the weirdest things happen when you have conversations with friends. It all started when we started talking about what would happen if the Joestar and Armstrong lines mixed, and now we got to this point here. 
> 
> Loud: This is our first fic where both of us co-authored with someone else. The writing style might feel weird, so bear with us.
> 
> Tabby: We're going to be writing on the spot too, keeping with the spirit of mangakas. Hopefully we can make this adventure bizarre and interesting enough to keep your attentions. Maybe someday we'll write enough so that the little scroller thingy on the side of the computer is tiny. 
> 
> Tabby: Anyways, just for a little run-down as to what to expect, this is basically if one of the resets of the JoJo Universe made it so that it takes place in the world of Amestris. From here on out, we'll try our best to show you what happens and how we adapt certain elements from both mangas. Enjoy!

_Xerxes, 1509_

On a sunny day in the hot sands of Xerxes, three alchemists kneeled before their king. Well-known for their proficiency in alchemy, they were ordered by the King himself to find a way to create immortals. After many months of labour, they were finally ready to present their king with the fruits of their labour.

Today was to be a momentous day for science. In the early hours of the morning, they strode out of their dark, dingy laboratory for the first time in months, with a stack of masks and a huge cage covered with a larger black cloth. The cage shook with every step they took, rattling the steel bars. Even when left still, the rattles continued. The Xerxian men and women in the court pointed at the cage and gossiped, mouths behind their hands. Speculations on what beast was in the cage rose from small-talk, and echoed around the windowless room. Maybe it was an animal? Or the legendary chimera? Or perhaps, something more than Man itself?

“My king,” said the youngest and most energetic of the three, Wammu. “You’ve delegated us the greatest mission mankind could ever embark on. A way to defy death itself. And today, I proudly declare the mission a success. With your permission, my liege, I shall show the world a being that surpasses Man and Death itself!”

The court gasped in awe. Gossip got louder. The king, tired from the heat, sat up for the first time that day, and waved a hand. “If you claim to have found the solution to immortality, then show me, my alchemists. Show me how I may attain such power over death.”

With a smirk, Wammu snapped his fingers, prompting his colleagues, Kars and Esidisi to pull the cloth from the cage. The cloth opened like a pair of curtains, and revealed a naked young man. The man was tall, muscular and had tiny fangs, sharp and bared. His eyes were dark with hatred. He emitted a menacing aura, unnerving nearly everyone in the courtroom, especially King Xerxes himself. As the man saw King Xerxes, he stood up, eyes glaring daggers into the soul of the wretched king.

“This is the criminal Amon! A man you’ve sentenced to life in prison! From an aged fossil, found buried deep in the quarry, we have brought him eternal youth!” Wammu declared with pride.

The courts gasped once again. The last time the prisoner was seen, he was practically a skeleton. The man was bald with wrinkles etched on his sunken cheeks and forehead. None had ever imagined that a man nearly at the end of his life could be restored back to his prime. The senior nobles in the courtroom were petrified by this. Hysteria reared its ugly head, and those who had known Amon excused themselves out of the room.

King Xerxes himself recognized Amon as a former political rival. One he disposed of, accusing him for treason and conspiracy against the rightful heir to the throne. It seemed that Amon had not forgotten the wrong King Xerxes has done to him, and he did not seem willing to forgive him even after being blessed with immortality. Instead, every inch of Amon’s face was filled with pure wrath. Primal fury had engulfed the man’s mind. Amon grabbed the steel bars of the cage and bent them sideways. He stepped through his new escape route, taking the alchemists by surprise. The man growled like a rabid animal and lunged towards the King, clawed hands and sharp fangs ready to kill. Kars interrupted the attack. A quick thinker, he sketched a transmutation circle out and created a spike. The spike shot through Amon’s body, piercing through it like a piece of paper.

“Apologies, my King. It seems that our test subject had gotten a little out of control.” Kars said emotionlessly, as if the spectacle was something which always happens.

Blood trickled down the spike and the man’s body twitched like a crushed insect. But all of a sudden, Amon bunched his hands into fists, and smashed the spikes into rubble with one strike. Right as he regained his footing, he immediately charged towards the throne. Bits of rock spilled out of the hole in its stomach. It would have been comical if he was any less wrathful.

Esidisi, sensing the killer instinct within the prisoner, drew a transmutation circle of his own onto a wall. When he slammed his hands on it, a hole formed. Instantly, sunlight streamed into the dark room, and hit Amon’s side.

A sickly, smoky smell filled the room, along with the crackling sound of something burning. Then, a scream. An agonising scream, one filled with pain and anger. But despite the obvious pain, the anger in Amon’s eyes did not wane. Even as his body was slowly breaking apart, his bloodshot eyes were still set on the king. Even when his lower body completely disintegrated, he crawled towards the king, his right arm reaching out for the king’s throat. Then, Amon’s body burnt up, and all that remained of him was a pile of white ash on the floor.

For a moment, the novels and the king looked at the ash pile with terror.

Then, the king spoke up again.

“What is the meaning of this?” Demanded Xerxes, his voice booming and angry.

“Ah, yes. We forgot to inform you what would happen should you put this mask on, my king. If you were to wear this,” he pulled up a mask, presenting it to the court. “You will gain immortality, but you also will be unable to touch the sun’s light.” Kars replied, stoic as ever.

The king shook his head, his brows furrowed. “No, no, that would not do. Has it ever dawned upon you alchemists that some of us like to live our lives outside of dark laboratories? We live in the desert! If I were to avoid the sun, I would have no life worth living!”

“But my liege, we can still-” Wammu attempted to interject.

“Enough! I have invested far too much time and resources into your fruitless endeavours. Time which I am quickly running out of!” bellowed King Xerxes with extreme frustration.

“If naught for the valuable work you have done for my land, I would have had you three publicly beheaded for treason! I will show mercy today, but you are hereby ordered to discontinue this project and dispose of the stone masks immediately.”

Wammu and Esidisi were furious. Years of hard work, channelled into perfecting the ultimate tool which would ascend humanity to new heights, and their king threw that out the window. Kars was also extremely displeased with this news, though his stoic demeanour and emotionless attitude would say otherwise.

“I will not allow our life’s work to be destroyed, King Xerxes.” Kars stepped forward with a calm conviction rivalling the King’s anger.

“You would dare defy me, Kars?” King Xerxes glared at Kars.

“If only for the sake of my work, then I shall exile myself and my trusted colleagues to the deserts.”

“We stand by his words.” Esidisi and Wammu joined in, shoulders locked side by side with Kars. King Xerxes stared at them for a moment. Nobody dared to make a sound. The nobles watched on in a fearful fascination. What would their king say to that?

However, much to the surprise of the nobles, and the alchemists’ relief, the king merely tilted his head back, and laughed. He gave a good, long laugh, probably the first he had ever laughed since his own body degraded into a walking fossil. The sound echoed around the room, big and hearty. It was clear that King Xerxes’ angry mood had died out.

“Very well then,” King Xerxes snickered. “It would save me the trouble of burying your bodies afterwards. Yes, that shall be done.” With a wave of his hand, King Xerxes commanded his guards to escort the alchemists out of the palace. “Get one of the servants to drive them out. Make sure that they end up someplace far away from the kingdom.”

Scornful eyes showered on Wammu, Esidisi, and Kars. The nobels resented that the three greatest alchemists of Xerxes had failed the king. Wammu in particular felt absolutely devastated, as his pride as an alchemist got utterly dragged through the mud. Esidisi and Kars however, could not care less about what the lowly peasants of Xerxes thought of them. The guardsmen took them out of the palace grounds, and yelled at a stable-hand to get the caravan ready. Two big camels were hitched to the caravan, and the journey began.

Silence lingered in the air for the first half of the journey, before Kars finally spoke up. “For a second, I thought you two would leave me for the foolish king.”

“From the moment we started working together, we pledged our loyalty to you and you only, Kars.” Wammu replied.

“After all, this quest for immortality was always intended for us and not the king.” Esidisi added.

“Very well. Wammu, I apologise for making you endure that sort of humiliation.” Kars said, a tinge of remorse in his words.

“It is nothing, Kars. I truly believe that the masks will bring us greatness. I will endure any and all humiliation if that ensures us achieving immortality.” Wammu smirked.

“For a man who values honor and pride to say those words… You have truly grown, Wammu.” Esidisi was surprised by Wammu’s maturity. He never care about honor as much as Wammu did, yet he always respected his beliefs. He knew how much Wammu believed in upholding honor and one’s dignity, so for a man like him to utter such words was a pleasant surprise for him.

“We’re here! ” the driver of the caravan yelled. The three alchemists hopped off the wagon one by one. The journey there had been a long one. Though they left in the morning, the sky was now the pinkish-orange of the evening, and the air was starting to turn chilly. Surrounding them, for miles and miles, was sand. A far cry from the oasis of the kingdom, but for the alchemists, this was their escape from restrictions.

“You know, it’ll be a real shame having minds like you leave Xerxes.” The rider said.

“We made the decision to leave. Even if we had stayed, we would not have been permitted to do much research anyways.” Wammu replied.

“I see” A minute of silence. “… I had a friend who was an alchemist too. He said he wanted to work as an apprentice under one of you three to improve his skills.”

“What was his name?” Wammu asked, interested.

“Van Hohenheim.”

“The one learning under Homunculus? It would have been a pleasure meeting him, but I am afraid we might not ever meet.”

“Yeah… well, I’ll be off now. My wife would be mad if I didn’t come back before dinner.” The rider bid farewell and parted ways with the three alchemists. He strode off with his camels Westward, facing the setting sun.

“Where do we go from here, Kars?” Esidisi asked.

“800 steps east. I’ve set up a secret laboratory with Santana. From there, we will continue our research. After all, this stone mask is far from perfection.” Kars replied. They headed into the sand dunes, never to be seen again, until many centuries later.

*****

“What is it this time?” King Xerxes slurred with a wine glass in his hand. A blond man with a ponytail entered the throne room with a pitch-black ball of smoke in a flask. An eye suddenly materialized in the smoke, followed by a cartoonishly wide grin.

“Your majesty, I heard you were still looking for a way to gain immortality.” said the black smoke.

“If this has to do with stone masks and monsters again, I’m breaking that flask of yours.”

“Do not worry, your Majesty. My way does not involve mere tricks and falsehoods.”

“And by when, I may ask, can you get this done?”

“By half a year at most, your Majesty.”

“Are you sure your way will work?”

“Oh trust me, King Xerxes, I will not fail.”

*****

_Around 400 years later, Amestris_

In 1915, the last full-blooded Xerxian died. Since then, his sons, Edward and Alphonse Elric, have been doing well for themselves. Edward married his childhood friend, Winry Rockbell, and currently makes a living writing books on alchemy. He is also the father of five beautiful children. Though he has found success in his writing career, the main breadwinner of the family is his wife, who runs a successful automail business in Rush Valley.

Alphonse Elric, on the other hand, went to Xing to study Alkahestry. Under the tutelage of Princess Mei Chang, he mastered it eventually. The few years of studying together resulted in them falling deeply in love. They got married quickly, and spent a few years travelling and learning of the different alchemy branches of the world. Around the time Edward was expecting his fifth child, they discovered that Mei was expecting a child too. Now with a beautiful daughter, they continue to spend their days researching on how to separate chimeras.

Mei’s older half-brother, Ling Yao, remains the benevolent emperor of Xing. Earning the title due to his possession of the Philosopher’s Stone, he vowed that he would use his position to look after the other clans. He has fulfilled that promise, and thanks to his excellent rulership, Xing entered a golden age. Though he was expected to marry a girl of noble blood, he chose instead to marry his loyal bodyguard, Lan Fan. Even though it took years of asking, she finally accepted. The couple now rule Xing with a young daughter.

A friend of the three families, Roy Mustang, also became the ruler of his own country, Amestris. After becoming Fuhrer, he successfully demilitarised the country, and made it a democracy. He also got trialed for his war crimes. However, even though he was found guilty, he was pardoned due to the good he had done for the country. His aide, Riza Hawkeye, was trialed too and was similarly charged. Afterwards, they set out together to do more altruistic works for the good of Amestris and its people, but not before Roy requested Riza to marry him. They wedded in a private ceremony, and to date, Roy is president, Riza is First Lady and they have one daughter.

The final bit of history you must know, dear reader, is one regarding the Armstrong lineage. In this universe, the youngest Armstrong daughter, Catherine Elle Armstrong, married one George Joestar the second. Together, they have one child. A son. The hero of our story, Jonah Joestar-Armstrong.

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gk-iWj_a-68>


	2. Visitors From The West

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Loud: Hey guys, we're back again for Chapter 2! Just a heads-up, this story will follow very loosely the events of JJBA Part 2, so there will definitely be additional events and elements in order to make everything fit. This is the second time I've done worldbuilding, so I hope everything makes sense. Enjoy the fic!
> 
> Tabby: Plus, Loud finally got his AO3 account. Yay! As for the story, I think it may go in a very different direction than what happens in the JoJo canon, but only time can tell. After all, we do make this up as we go along. Enjoy the chapter!

_Amestris, 1st March 1944_

There were many things that prevented the Elric-Rockbells from visiting their relatives in Xing. Between Winry’s automail business, requests for Ed to speak at universities all over Amestris, and the myriad of events going on in their childrens’ lives, it was a rare event whenever they could all head over to Xing. Usually, such visits are reserved for special occasions. Occasions such as Al’s wedding, the few big Amestrian and Xingese holidays, and this time…

“Wait, just so I’m clear, how old is your cousin going to be?” Asked Jonah Joestar-Armstrong, while he helped his best friend lift a heavy suitcase into the train cart.

Tommy Elric placed his backpack on top of the suitcase, unzipped it, and pulled out a thick leather-bound book. “Cher’s going to turn eighteen in a couple of days. You know, like us? I was saying how excited I was last week at the bar. About how she was finally going to be an adult like us, and we can take her out drinking.”

Jonah rubbed the back of his neck. “In my defence, I was pretty drunk that night.” He took one pint that night and instantly got wasted.

“Yeah, I know.” Tommy received a light punch on his arm for his snark. “Hey! I literally had to carry you home! It’s not my fault that you can’t hold your liquor.” He chuckled, rubbing his arm.

“Shush. Didn’t we agree not to talk about that anymore?” Jonah hissed. It was clear he was still pretty touchy over getting wasted so early into the night.

“Alright, alright. Cool down JoJo. Let’s go meet up with the rest of my family now. They should be done with their toilet break now.”

Jonah nodded, and the two eighteen-year-olds walked over to the passenger carriages.

“Another upside to being an adult: I can finally do what I want,” Said Jonah, arms folded behind his head. “I mean, sure, I’ve been to Xing before, but it was always with family. I mean, going with family isn’t so bad… unless Aunt Olivier is around. But it’s not the same without you and your lot. This would be our first trip together, and we can do whatever we want!”

“That’ll also mean uncle Alex wouldn’t be around to drag you away if you try to get funky with girls…” Tommy retorted, wagging his thick, blonde eyebrows.

“Hey, a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.” He shrugged.

“What’s that I hear about getting funky with girls?” A high-pitched voice cut through the various noises of the train station, and the two eighteen-year-olds turned to see Tommy’s mother with her hands on her waist. Beside her, her husband distributed train tickets out to Tommy’s four older siblings. The small group beside her seemed comically unaware of her fuming mood. Jonah suspected that they were trying to ignore her so that they can avoid experiencing any of her subsequent shows of temper.

“Oh no, Tommy! It’s your evil mother! What are we going to do?” Jonah faked a voice of fear and playfully shoved Tommy towards his mother.

“Jonah!” Winry exclaimed. “If either of you can’t behave yourselves on this trip, I will send you two home. You may already be adults, but I am still your mother.” She pointed to Tommy. “And I have contact with yours.” She pointed to Jonah. “So you two better behave yourselves!”

“Okay, mom…” both Jonah and Tommy sighed.

“Hey, Tommy, Jonah, here are your tickets.” They both turned to Tommy’s father, and quickly accepted the pink slips of paper. A two way ticket, economy class, to Xing and back. Behind them, Winry placed her hands on her hips and shook her head.

The loud clanking of a brass bell grabbed the group’s attentions. “All abooooard!” Yelled the conductor, and that triggered a mad dash towards the opened train cart doors. The Elrics (and Jonah) took advantage of their closeness to the doors, and bolted in silently without the need for pushes and shoves.

As they boarded their train, Tommy whispered a word of thanks to his father for his good timing. “Don’t think of your mother like that, she cares for you, and wants you to be a gentleman. Just listen to her, and she’ll be happy. That’s what I did during our younger days. Or at least, I tried to.” However, once Winry was out of earshot, Ed leaned over to his son’s ear, and whispered, “Take it from me, next time she might not be so merciful.”

Tommy thought about that as he took his seat on the worn, leather train booth. There he sat, elbow on the table and palm on his cheek. Once the train started, and the view from his window started to move, he decided to take that advice to heart. After all, his dad had been with his mom his entire life. If anyone would know her well, it would be him.

A thought entered his head, about how many times his father must have endured his mother’s fits of fury. Then he thought about how many times his mother had to endure his father’s ramblings on alchemy. Silently, he chuckled, and his mouth curved into a small smile.

  
*****

  
“So, what’s going to happen is that we’ll arrive at the station, and Uncle Al will be there waiting for us with Auntie Mei and Cher. From there, they’ll take us to the palace,” Said Kurt, the oldest of the Elric children, as he distributed steaming cups of coffee around the table. “Drink up. It’ll be quite a while before we reach Xing.”

His younger siblings (and Jonah) nodded. “Do you know how many people are invited to the party?” Asked the oldest girl, Amy. She graciously accepted her own cup of coffee; the only one with extra cream and sugar added.

“If my math is correct - which it usually is,” said the second oldest son, Jimi, “There should be around ninety. This includes us, the court nobles, the other royals, some of Uncle Al and Auntie Mei’s friends from around the world, Cher’s own friends, and Gina’s family.”

“Oh, right, Gina’s coming,” Said the youngest girl, Janis. She smirked as she took a sip of coffee, turned to face her youngest brother, and pinched one of his round cheeks. “I bet you’re excited, huh Tommy?”

Tommy nearly spat out his coffee. “Don’t go spouting nonsense like that!”

“Oh? What’s up with him?” Asked Jonah, a wry smile forming on his lips.

“Our little brother has a crush on the Mustangs’ daughte-” Jimi was cut off by his brother placing a hand on his mouth.

“What? And I didn’t know about it?” Jonah feigned a hurt voice. “I thought we were best friends! How come you never told me about this? I would have volunteered to be your wingman! After all, the art of wingmanship has been passed down both the Joestar _and_ the Armstrong lines for generations.” Jonah pouted like a puppy at the end of playtime. He already knew Tommy’s secret beforehand, he just pretended to act betrayed to get a reaction out of Tommy.

“Shut up.” Said Tommy. He grouchily sipped his coffee, causing the table to erupt into giggles.

“Come on, Tommy, you can’t ignore your heart’s desire for a pure maiden! I know both your heart and mind are calling her name, begging for her embra-” Jonah was stopped by a kiss with Tommy’s fist.

“Oww…” Jonah winced. “I probably deserved that.”

“Probably? How about definitely?” Giggled Amy, mouth covered by her hand.

“When you started waxing poetic about Tommy’s love life, I calculated that there was a 125% chance that he was going to punch your face,” Jimi said, with his finger positioned on the bridge of his spectacles.

“Can we please talk about something else?” Tommy whined.

“But you gotta do something about you-know-who! It’s not everyday you’ll get the chance to ask the President’s daughter out on a date! When _I_ had crushes, I always made sure to ask them out!” Said Jonah.

“Aaand all of them rejected you,” Janis said, taking the words out of Tommy’s mouth. Jonah collapsed on the ground once again. The essence of Jonah’s soul could practically be seen leaving his body as his skin turned as pale as a ghost.

“Don’t remind me of _that_ , heartless woman.” Jonah cringed, with his hand clutching his ‘broken’ heart.

Janis stuck her tongue out. Jonah stuck his out back. If Tommy’s mom wanted to talk about childish, she should be looking at what her twenty-year-old daughter was doing.

  
*****

  
_Xing, 2nd March 1944_  
Through the newly paved roads of the richer districts of Xing, several black cars drove by. They went slowly, but they were all much faster than the surrounding rows of horse-drawn wagons.

“Why did we have to wake up so early…” Cher whined, practically nodding off as she spoke.

“Because…” Alphonse said, keeping his eyes on the road.

“It’s your birthday today and we have massive plans for you! First we have to meet up with the President of Amestris, then pick up your cousins, then show them their accommodations, then go to your party, oh, did I mention the President of Amestris is coming? Not only that, some of the bla bla bla…” Mei rambled on, clearly excited about this occasion. Mei’s droning almost lulled Cher back to sleep. She would rather stay at home and read romance novels all day, but Mei banned her from reading those books specifically for this day.

“I know how much you like them, but today there will be nobles from Emperor Ling’s court who wish to visit you. They’d think that it’s improper for a girl your age to read those kind of books. So just for today, no reading until the party’s over, okay?” Her dad’s words repeated like a broken recorder in her head.

“Cher! Are you listening?” Mei yelled, waking her up for good.

“Whuh- yes, yes I am!”

“Remember, if there's a boy you like, tell me first! He must be up to my standards!”

“Okay okay, you’ve told me that for the hundredth time now. Sheesh.” If Cher had gone for books with roses and tea-sets on the covers, she would have been less worried. But Cher’s preferences leaned towards books with wolf-men and the moon on the covers, and that had Mei slightly concerned for her daughter.

“You should find a man like your father! He is a gentleman! Smart and strong! He was my knight in shining armor!” Mei gushed dreamily about her husband.

“Technically, I _was_ the armor.” Alphonse chimed in.

“Yes! Even when he was made of metal, he was still so soft on the inside! Did you know your dad used to collect stray cats in himself and bring them home?”

“Aww, that's so cute!” Cher squealed.

“And when he got his body back, at first he was bony and thin. I really wanted to bring him back to Xing so I could take care of him…”

“Ed said I wouldn’t survive the trip. But back then, we didn’t have trains between Amestris and Xing like we do now, right honey?”

“Oh, are you doubting my ability to take care of you? Have you forgotten who your wife is?” Mei pouted. Cher sighed and smiled; here they go again.

“Aw, no. It was never like that.”

“After all these years and you still doubt me… how cruel of you, Alphonse…” Cher could only giggle. Her mother and father never failed to make her laugh.

“Honey, you know I could barely walk that time right? Besides, as soon as I got better, I immediately left to visit you didn’t I?”

“Oh, so you came to visit me, not because you wanted to learn Alkahestry? Aww, Al, you’re such a sweetheart~” Mei cooed, and Alphonse smiled.

“Oh yeah, Dad, why did you want to learn Alkahestry? Didn’t you already know alchemy?” Cher asked. The question popped into her head the moment Mei mentioned Alkahestry. She always wanted to know, but she never found the chance to ask him.

“Ah yes I did, but Alkahestry is fundamentally different than Alchemy. I wanted to learn it because I had friends in unfortunate circumstances. I learnt Alkahestry because of the possibility that the knowledge earned could help save those people. I just wish I could have learnt it earlier though, because there were people I couldn’t save…” Alphonse trailed off, his tone growing quiet. Mei gave his shoulder a few pats, comforting him.

“Its kinda a rough topic for him. Hey look, we’re almost here!” Mei exclaimed. In front of them stood a large building. Though it’s shape was like a warehouse, it was far more colourful. It was a joint project between the President of Amestris and the Emperor of Xing in an effort to cultivate trade and tourism between the two countries.

When they arrived at the station, they were immediately jumped by a young woman with a long, dark ponytail and a round face. Gina Mustang, who enveloped Cher in a bear hug, followed by two personal bodyguards, hot on her heels.

“Under no circumstances are you allowed to run off by yourself again, Miss Mustang!” the two men ordered.

“Ah, it wasn’t like I went very far. You guys don’t have to worry for me all the time!” Gina shooed them off, much to the annoyance of the guards. Just then, they took note of the Changs in the vicinity. The guards scrutinised the three unfamiliar people surrounding Gina Mustang. Mr Mustang had not informed them about a family that would be meeting them at the train station. Who were these people?

“Who are these three unknown persons with you?” The guards bellowed in unison. Their thundering voice resonated throughout the train station. It was as if the guards were still working as drill sergeants instead of personal bodyguards.

“Uhm, my name is Alphonse-”

“Hmm? How do we know that you’re not a spy from a foreign land using the President’s daughter to stage an attack against the beautiful land of Amestris? HMM?” the guards yelled down at the blonde man. It was quite a scene to behold. Many Xingese and Amestrian onlookers stood to watch the debacle between the guards and the innocent family.

“Hey! I’ll have you know that my husband is an honest man and would never do such heinous acts! As his beautiful and adorable wife, I will not allow you to slander his nam-” However, the guards couldn’t care less about how much of a dashing prince Alphonse was and cut her off mid-sentence.

“And who are you exactly? A spy planning to eavesdrop on important, top secret information about our great President? Or perhaps, a terrorist planning to use the President’s beautiful daughter as hostage against him? HMM?” The guards were practically breathing down their necks at this point, unwilling to stand down.

Gina could only facepalm. “For fuck’s sake, don’t you two even read the news?”

“No miss.”

“Of course you don’t. Look, this woman over here is Princess Mei Chang, that’s her Husband, Alphonse, and the girl here is Princess Cher Chang. For goodness sake, the reason we’re even here in Xing is to celebrate her birthday!”

The group then spent an awkward minute looking at each other. Both guards had red blush colouring their cheeks. Gina stood there, sighing with arms folded. Mei had her hands on her hips and her lips closed, trying hard to cull her temper. By contrast, Cher nervously giggled with hands behind her back, slightly embarrassed. Then, Alphonse coughed, and eased the group out of awkwardness. “So, Gina, where are your parents right now?”

“We’ve been watching the entire time.” a lady’s voice could be heard, not too far away from the group. The guards recognized the voice to be their superior and immediately stood at attention.

“We apologize for the commotion, Mrs. Mustang!” the guards exclaimed. Their badges rattled with every movement they took. No one could tell if it was because of their fidgets, or out of nervousness.

“At ease, Sherman, Cromwell,” Said the President, as he walked over towards the group. “Although you two should really pick up a newspaper one of these days. We didn’t spend all that time rewriting journalism laws only for you two to be uninformed.”

“Yes sir! We shall read every newspaper from now onwards!” the pair of guards replied enthusiastically.

Roy sighed. The guards were two of the best performing soldiers in Central. At least, on paper. In practice, the guards were a troublesome duo to deal with. Especially on overseas missions, where they regarded anything and _everything_ as a potential threat. That man wearing a dark hoodie? Terrorist. The old lady who accidentally bumped into President Mustang? Assassin. A baby crying in a carriage? Obviously a bio-weapon engineered by Drachma scientists in order to annoy the Mustang family and ruin their day. Roy often wondered if the guards were protecting them, or if he and his family were protecting the pair from making international headlines.

“Anyways, I apologize on their behalf. They’re just... really overprotective of us.” said Roy.

“Ehh, it’s alright.”

With a cough, Mei brought everyone’s attentions to her. “So, right now the plan is that we’ll wait for the Elrics to get here. Afterwards, we’ll all be brought back to the palace. There should be enough cars here to transport everyone, along with their luggage back. They should all be arriving soon, right?”

Riza nodded. “Yes. They should be arriving in half an hour’s time.”

As they waited for the Elrics, the two families mingled with each other. Alphonse and Mustang busied themselves with discussions on alchemy and politics. As usual, Mei had a lot to brag about her charming husband. Riza, ever patient, listened to her swoons with a smile.

In contrast to their parents’ polite conversations, Cher and Gina‘s conversation mainly consisted of Cher ranting about school. Apparently, Cher got into a fight with a bully at school for teasing a quiet girl. At first, she did not take action. She had wanted to wait for a teacher to resolve the conflict, but when the poor girl’s book got thrown on the ground and stomped on, Cher immediately socked the bully with her elbow. It turned out that the bully had stomped on a Limited Edition copy of her favourite novel, Bobo’s Love Love Misadventures.

“So then I told her, ‘If I see you touch her or that book, I will mess up your face so bad none of the pretty boys would date you ever again!’” said Cher.

“I mean, it’s bad enough that she had to be a bully, but to disrespect great literature too? That’s going too far.”

“Damn. I never went that far when I was in school,” laughed Gina. “What sort of punishment did they give you?”

“I got two weeks detention. We didn’t mention the book thing to the public. Everyone in Xing believes that I was only defending the poor girl.” She giggled.

Gina made a zipping motion over her lips. “Your secret is safe with me.” She winked.

“Thanks.” Cher smiled.

“I think the bitch deserved it anyways.”

“Oh, definitely.”  
*****  
“It’s nice, isn’t it?” Roy said, a contented smile on his face.

“What is?” Asked Al.

“Having a family of your own.”

“Oh, yeah it is. I do wish I could have spent more time with them though. These past few years, I’ve been focusing a lot on work. By the time I managed to return Jerso and Zampano to their regular forms, Cher’s already a teenager!” Alphonse gave a half-hearted chuckle, then sighed.

“I know what you mean. Originally, I didn’t want to marry anyone either, although that was so I could focus full-time on becoming Fuhrer and righting our wrongs. But now, a lot has happened and I seriously went off-course.”

They shared a moment of laughter together before Alphonse continued the conversation.

“At least, Mei has been very understanding and really helped me find the time to play with my daughter. I don’t know what I’ll do without her.”

Roy nodded. “That’s sweet. Riza helped me raise my daughter to be the fine lady she is, and I couldn’t thank her enough for that. I did try to be a father to her, but being President sucks away most of my daytime hours. And after all that, the moment I come back home, I’m too tired to do anything else but sleep.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty hard balancing work and family time. It makes me wonder how Edward makes time for five kids.”

“Fullmetal and Winry are tough people. I think they got through that just fine.”

“You still call him Fullmetal?”

“More out of respect than anything else. After all, the Fullmetal Alchemist helped save Amestris. My country.” Roy’s subtle smile grew into his trademark smirk. “Plus, it’s amusing to watch his reactions if he takes the bait.”

They had a brief moment of silence, mostly consisting of taking in the atmosphere around them. Travellers, both Amestrian and Xingese, filled the station, going every which way. The sounds of trains hissing, people chatting, and footsteps against the station floor added to the busy atmosphere. This atmosphere, at once a novelty, yet so familiar, gave the two men a warm feeling in their hearts. To their right stood the women they loved most, safe and happy. To their left, there stood a train track. A result of political alliances, now being used to bring families together. In the cold of the late winter, the thought brought Alphonse a warm and fuzzy feeling. Suddenly, the sharp voice of a man filled the air.

“The train from Amestris will be arriving shortly.”

The signature horn of a steam train could be heard, loud and clear. From the distance, the black behemoth known as a train emerged from the desert. Out came dark grey smoke through its chimney, diffusing into the air. Lined up behind the train’s engine, there were dozens of steel carriages. The glossy, metallic black of the train stood out in the desert, contrasting with the golden yellow sand, making it visible from miles away.

“Ah, so he’s finally here.” Roy said.

“Yep!” Alphonse replied. Upon hearing the announcement, the two families gathered at the landing platform, ready to welcome Edward’s family (and Jonah) to Xing with open arms.

  
*****

  
Tommy only walked a few steps out of the train before he got slammed to the ground by his younger cousin. “Welcome back to Xing!” She said, with a smile on her face.

‘You couldn’t wait for me to properly get off the train, could you?” Tommy asked, picking himself up.

Cher shook her head. “Nope!”

“I don’t know if you guys have noticed, but there’s like a ton of people who wants to get off so… do you mind not being a roadblock?” Jonah butted in rudely.

“Right, sorry.” Said Cher, awkwardly getting up.

“Anyways-” Tommy wanted to continue, but someone in his peripheral caught his attention. Someone with dark hair, a blue miniskirt, and long legs. Despite Jonah’s teasing, he could not help but freeze up again.

“Well, what are you waiting for? I got a ton of luggage to car- oh. Ohhhhhh. Nice.”

“Hey, quit ogling at her,” Said Tommy, while two red spots formed on his round cheeks.

“Oh don’t get the wrong idea. I was wondering _where_ you were looking at. She’s aaalll yours.” Jonah chuckled. _He’s making this too easy_ , he thought to himself.

“Shut up!” Awkwardly, Tommy walked up to Gina with his chest puffed up.

No, he would not let the teasing get to him. So what if he had a crush on Gina? He was going up to her, and he was going to talk to her confidently. There would be nothing romantic about it, none at all. After all, they were just good childhood friends, and that is all there is. Most definitely. Originally, he had planned on reading his new book during the trip, but thanks to Jonah and his sibling’s constant teasing, he could not read beyond chapter one. Well, now was his chance to enact revenge. He would go up to her, and prove that he could act normally around her.

He walked up to her, his chest puffed out and a smile forced onto his face. And with a deep breath, he squeaked out, “H-hey, G-gina!”

“Oh, hi Tommy…” Said Gina, a small grin on her face. Damn it! That just made his heart race faster! She looks so precious when she smiles.

“S-so, h-how’s life been?” Damn it all! He was letting his nerves get to him! That’s what he got for having ‘cute’ and ‘Gina’ in his thoughts simultaneously. He needed to get that idea out of his head. If he could stop thinking about it, then he would stop being so nervous!

Gina tucked a strand of silky black hair behind her ear, and the grace of her movement sent butterflies to his stomach. No, no, he needed to be confident. He did not want to provide Jonah and his siblings with new teasing fodder so easily. All that would do is make this trip annoying, and he did not travel all the way through the desert just to get annoyed the entire time there. One deep breath later, and he spoke again. “So, would you like to sit with me? Uncle Al should have brought the cars again.”

Gina nodded. “He did bring plenty of cars, and of course. That sounds great.”

From behind them, Jonah clapped. Thanks to the commotion caused by the busy train station, they couldn’t hear him. “Smoooth!” Jonah playfully cheered for his best buddy before receiving a swift elbow to the gut from Cher.

He was knocked down onto the platform, and soon found himself looking up at a smirking Cher. She promptly extended a hand down to help him up, and he accepted the gesture with a “Thanks.”

“No problem,” she smiled. “Hey, can I help with the luggage?”

“Are you sure you want to do that?” Asked Jonah, hands tucked into his pockets.

“Of course. I know how the Elrics are with their luggage. We didn’t drive the extra car over here for the _Mustangs’_ baggage, after all. Thank goodness _they’re_ light packers.”

Jonah shared a laugh with Cher, and nodded. “Only if you think you’re up to the task, Ms. Chang.”

“Of course I am, Mr. Joestar. Don’t let appearances fool you.”

“Ohoho, I never did, shorty.” Jonah replied with a sly grin. Cher’s face flushed red; her height was a rather sensitive topic for her.

“Hey, don’t call me short!” Cher said, playfully punching Jonah in the chest. She puffed her cheeks and pursed her lips like a fish. A habit from childhood that happens whenever she get angry.

“Alright, Princess, since you insist…” Jonah immediately piled all his luggage on the little princess. Her legs nearly buckled under the load and it took her nearly all of her strength to lift his luggage.

“What the hell! Why is this so heavy- what did you even bring?” Cher complained.

“Hmm, only the essentials, like a couple of dumbbells, a few water bottles and a-”

“Why would you treat my party like a gym!?” She pouted, lower lip out and brows furrowed.

“Calm down, calm down, it’s just a lot of clothes. And maybe a dumbbell in there. I need to keep in shape, you know.” Jonah gave her a cheeky grin before taking some of the load off her hands. Cher grunted and returned his grin with a very sour face.

“And before I forget-”

Jonah slipped a tiny, square shaped box wrapped with yellow paper into her pocket and gave her a pat on the head.

“Happy birthday.” he said with a soft smile. Cher, still feeling flustered, turned her head away, flicking some of her long, dark hair at Jonah’s face. She couldn’t help but smile a little though. It’s been a long time since she had Jonah around, and maybe she missed him a little too much.

 

*****

  
 _Thwip!_ Bullseye. Again. Princess Ting Ting of the Yao clan walked up to the painted piece of wood she called a dart board, and yanked her throwing knife out. When out and about in public, she was one to present in a ladylike manner. But behind the closed doors of her bedroom, that was when she could finally let her frustrations out.

So, at last, little cousin Cher is going to turn eighteen. Several weeks ago, she told her that once she came of age, she had to do away with all her childish behaviours. No more silly romance novels. No more childish crushes. And no more letting her emotions get in the way of rational thinking. She figured that since her cousin was only a few months younger than her, she would have been able to do those things well.

Then she had to punch that girl in the face.

Sorting out the PR was a disaster. For a couple weeks, they had to snip up a perfectly acceptable story to tell the public, nearly souring relations with the rich girl’s family in the process. Ting Ting had to give Cher a good tongue lashing about the whole episode. For a while, the scolding had worked. The silly girl seemed to have finally followed her advice.

Now with Cher’s cousins and that Mustang girl on the way to Xing, she only fears that they would enable her to pull off more stupid stunts. On Cher’s eighteenth birthday too, of all days. Last year, during her own eighteenth, hundreds and thousands of guests showed up. The party was the talk of the town for about for a week. In comparison, Cher had decided to make her own birthday a smaller, more personal event, though there would still be press to worry about. If all her efforts spent grooming the girl were for naught, she did not know who to blame for that.

Darn her cousin. Darn her, and her stupid, childish ways. Xing had a legacy and a reputation to uphold. She could not be so relaxed lest she damaged it.

A knock was heard from the door, and Ting Ting answered with a crisp “Enter!”

The doorknob twisted, and a young servant stepped in gingerly. “Princess Ting Ting, the guests have arrived.”

Ting Ting sighed, and tightened up her bun. Unlike her childish cousin, who does too much experimentation on her hair, she always wore a proper, respectable hairstyle. Just like her mother does. “Right. I’m going to greet them.”

And she left without another word to the servant.

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gk-iWj_a-68>

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tabby: A little tidbit of information, but Al took on Mei's surname. They were able to do that through a legal loophole and Mei being royalty. Loud and I agreed it happened something like this: 
> 
> "Alphonse Chang does kinda have a nice ring to it, don't you think?"  
> -Alphonse to Mei, causing her ovaries to explode for the 100th time
> 
> Tabby: We share a weird sense of humour.


	3. Super Sweet Eighteenth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tabby: Well, we're a little late. Sorry about that thing; we both have this thing called lives. Lots of homework, lots of tests, Loud is adjusting to a new school, plus I fell sick. But, we pulled through. So, here are the fruits of our labour.
> 
> Loud: Aaah, homework has been piling up these days so balancing writing and school life was really hard to do. Its finally out though. I'm also pretty out of practice with writing, so I probably overworked poor Tabby for editing over my part. Sorry Tabby! Anyways, enjoy!

_ Xing, 2nd March 1944 _  


Ting Ting walked down the stairs of the palace so quickly it almost looked like she was gliding. Her parents had already arrived at the scene, greeting the guests. They were even assisting in carrying up the luggage. She sighed. These people were the only people they would do that for, simply for being their friends. Although she respected her parents, she always found that to be a strange gesture. She never did that to her friends whenever they came over to visit, after all.

Once she reached the ground level, she caught the attention of the oldest of the Elric children. Kurt, wasn’t it? “Ah, good afternoon, Princess!”

“It should be evening now, actually.” 

Kurt chuckled, as he often did when Ting Ting talked to him. It frustrates her, but she must never let her annoyances be obvious. “That’s not funny.”

“Cold as usual, huh?”

His remark was met with silence. 

“You excited for your little cousin’s party?”

“Not particularly.”

More silence. Kurt lifted a gigantic suitcase out of the car with one hand, and closed the car door with the other. “Well, I sure hope that dinner’s ready. We spend five hours driving to get here, and after an overnight train ride too. It’ll be nice to get a decent meal.”

“Didn’t you and your family eat anything on the ride here?”

“Well, we had some coffee on the train, and we had sandwiches on the drive here, but that’s about it.” He said, carrying his suitcase as if it was a pillow. “Have you ever had a sandwich, Princess?”

“I don’t believe I ever had, no.”

“Well then, I expect that we’ll have better food for dinner then.” Kurt smiled at Ting Ting, but he only got an icy glance in return.

“I expect that we shall too.” Ting Ting walled up ahead. 

Out of all of the Elric siblings, she considers Kurt to be the most bearable of the lot, but that does not mean she wishes to waste time chatting with him. Getting too attached to random civilians from other countries was just not proper. Her parents might have continued keeping close relations with civilians, but it was done against the recommendation of the royal advisors. And frankly, she would rather take the advice of those who spent years studying the country’s history, culture, politics, and customs. They sounded like people who knew how to run a country.

*****

A few hours later, after the guests had been lead to their rooms, Ting Ting strutted through the corridors leading to her quarters. Unbeknownst to her, Cher trailed right behind her. 

Ting Ting entered her room and let out a long sigh. She closed the door, and instinctively her body relaxed itself. With one pull of her ribbon, she let her hair down, and she made her way to the couch in the centre of the room. On her way there, she grabbed a book from her shelf, titled  _ The Beauty of Silence _ . Finally, some peace and quiet. Probably the only peace and quiet she’ll be getting for a while. Until tomorrow, where the party will be loud and rowdy. She dreaded the event with every fiber of her being. Ever since she was a young girl, she preferred ballroom parties with immaculate dresses and gentlemanly suits, where formality is the norm and the atmosphere was relatively quiet. Considering Cher’s personality and type of friends, she was fully expecting a chaotic party, one that she certainly couldn’t stand. 

Her father, Emperor Ling had talked to her the day before about being a little bit more hospitable to her cousin and her guests. He knew how much Ting Ting was at odds with Cher’s lifestyle, so he had personally taken some time out of his busy work to appease her. 

“Her parents and their friends have done a lot to help me become what I am today. Paying for my food and accomodations in Amestris, getting a Philosopher’s stone which made me Emperor… We owe so much to them. This is the least we can do for them, so try to have some fun, alright?”

“Fine, but I will not participate in their silly games. I shall only be there to make sure nothing bad happens to them.”

Ling sighed. “You’re just like your mother, Ting Ting. I don’t know whether that's a good thing or a bad thing sometimes.”

“Hmph.” 

Now, she was letting time pass before the Sun fully sets. She was completely free for the night, yet she also felt extremely bored. She thrived when working with the royals, learning how Xing operates and occasionally sparring with her mother. This boredom, it was nothing new. But she had never figured out a productive way to spend her free time. _Should I practice throwing knives? No, no, no, that will not do. The board she used hasn’t been replaced yet. Should I continue reading this book? Oh wait, I’ve read this for the fifth time already._ She tossed the book towards her desk all the way from her couch in frustration. Now she had absolutely nothing to do but wait until that stupid party comes up. And the dread combined with her boredom was killing her. What could she do? Other than staring at the ceiling, which was neither productive nor proper.

“Maybe I could visit Che-” She reflexively slapped herself for thinking of such a thought. But then again, she was really bored. Maybe taking a look at what her little cousin is doing wouldn’t hurt… 

There was a knock at the door, which jolted her from her thoughts.

“Who is it?” Ting Ting answered the knock. 

“It’s little old me, Cher!”

“Gosh darn it. Speak of the devil,” she muttered under her breath. 

She walked briskly to her door and slammed it open, only to see her annoying, round face and her large, dark eyes staring right back at her. Dressed in a full-body pyjamas, cotton bedroom sandals, and with frizzy, uncombed hair, she looked like a mess.

“Did you walk all the way here in your PYJAMAS? Have you no shame!?” she yelled in disgust. 

“Nope.” she replied with a cheeky grin. Jonah’s playful attitude must have rubbed off on her. 

“Ugh, what do you want?”

“Well, I was having a mini bedroom party over at Gina’s room, and I felt someone was missing. So I was thinking ‘Hmm, who was I missing?’ and I realized-”

“Straight to the point. Ten words or less or I’m closing the door on you.” Ting Ting gave an icy glare at her. 

“Will this be in my report card?” Cher responded playfully. 

“Yes. Now spill it.”

“I want you to join my sleepover.”

She slammed the door on Cher.

“Whyyy? I did one, two, three… Seven words! That's less than ten!”

“I am NOT going to your sleepover!”

“Come on! Just this once, pleaaase?”

“NO!”

“Okay then… I was hoping to spend my last few moments as a young girl with my awesome cousin, but I guess I’ll have to make do without her… I only wanted my cousin to be here with me as I grow up…” Cher trailed off with a melancholic tone in her voice. 

Unknown to Ting Ting, she was actually using her mother’s secret technique for getting what she wanted, one she had witnessed her using on her poor dad oh so many times. Ting Ting initially did not take the bait. But then, she was no match for Cher’s new modification to her mother’s perfected technique, something she had conceptualised in the spur of the moment. She let out a soft wail, just quiet enough not to attract other servants in the area but loud enough for Ting Ting to hear it. This pitiful, pathetic wail struck at Ting Ting’s heartstrings and at last, she fell for her bait. 

“Alright alright, I’ll bite. But I’m going to sleep at ten, so don’t make too much noise by then.” she said while opening the door. Suddenly, like a cunning, ferocious kitten, Cher pounced on her. 

“Aah, I knew you would join me! You’re the best cousin eveeer!” the predatory kitten purred while rubbing her face all over her victim’s chest. 

“Get off me! You’re ruining my bedwear!” she said while she uselessly struggled against Cher. Her struggle caused Cher to clutch even tighter onto her. She finally relaxed herself and hugged her back softly. Despite everything, she sometimes just can’t bring herself to hate her little cousin.  _ What will I ever do with you…  _ she thought to herself. 

*****

Cher skipped into Gina’s room, and made her presence immediately known. “Heeey guys! Guess who I brought back!” 

“More pretty girls?” Jonah asked, a smirk on his face.

“Handsome guys?” Asked Gina, looking up from one of Cher’s books.

“Food?” Tommy asked with a sandwich in his mouth. 

“Nope! I brought the best cousin!” Cher exclaimed while shoving Ting Ting forward. 

“But I’m right here!” Tommy shouted, bits of food spilling out of his mouth. 

“I mean besides you. I’m talking about Ting Ting!” She said, dragging the older girl into the room. Ting Ting, in an attempt to regain her composure, smoothened her night dress and stood up straight.

Instantly, the energy in the room died down.

“So, you actually came Princess,” Said Gina, as she placed the book down beside her. 

“It wasn’t how I planned on spending the evening, but I suppose I can spend a bit of time with my cousin.” Ting Ting folded her arms, and found a cushion to sit on. “So, what do you usually do in one of these?”

“You’ve never been invited to a sleepover before?” Asked Tommy, reaching out for a bowl of candies.

Ting Ting shook her head. “I’ve never been invited to one.”

The room grew silent, but there was an unsaid statement left hanging in the air,  _ “That’s no surprise.” _

Cher joined her friends back in the ring of pillows, cushions, and blankets they made. With a leap, she landed on a large yellow cushion, belly-down. She pulled a bowl of popcorn near her, and began shoving down large handfuls of the greasy snack. “You want some of these Ting Ting? They’re an Amestrian snack, and they’re really good!”

Ting Ting felt her stomach churn. She could not tell whether her disgust was from the oily quality of those Amestrian snacks, or if it was from her cousin’s smacking and slurping. Either way, her appetite had been firmly lost. “No thank you.”

“Aaaaanyways,” Jonah said, trying his best to pull up the energy of the room, “we were discussing what we wanted to do with our lives. Maybe that’s an important enough topic for you to discuss with us, Ting Ting.”

Ting Ting tilted her head just a little higher. For a second,everyone could have sworn they saw her emote. Even if the emotion was disdain. “It’s  _ Princess  _ Ting Ting to you, Jonah.”

“Right, right.”

“Anyways, I think it should be obvious what I wish to do with my life. I plan on continuing my royal duties for the good of Xing, as I have done ever since I was fourteen.”

“Damn, fourteen?” Gina crossed her legs, sitting up straight. Silently, she snatched the popcorn bowl from under Cher’s nose. (“No fair,” whined Cher.) “I wasn’t even allowed to say out past midnight until I was eighteen.”

“When you’re the daughter of the ruler of your country, there should be certain standards you must live up to.” 

Gina’s lip stiffened. “Well,” she began, “you should be pleased to know,  _ Princess,  _ that I do plan on contributing to my country, even if I don’t plan on ruining it. I’m studying psychology in Central University.  In fact, currently I’m doing some research for a thesis, because I’m finishing school early. I don’t even have to step foot in the halls for another six months, unless it’s for a consultation with a professor. That’s because I would like to research on the ailments of the mind, and how to help others. It may not be work that’s as tangible as ruling a country, but I can assure you, it’s  _ just _ as important.” Gina scooped a handful of popcorn, and ate up the small pile, kernel by kernel _. _

“Well… as for me, I want to learn how to be an alchemist like my father used to be. Kurt is already taking over mom’s business, and Amy wants to help him out. Jimi will be handling the finances for the two of them, because they’re planning on moving to Resembool, where mom’s business used to be.”

“What about Janis?” Asked Jonah.

“Ah, she’ll be taking over Uncle Sig and Auntie Izumi’s butcher shop. She’d actually interned there the past few summers. I think she also picked up some martial arts too, so that’s something else to look out for...” Said Tommy, rubbing the back of his head. His sister had always been a strong-willed person. He always worried for the day where she will demonstrate how much she had learnt from the Curtises.

“What about you, JoJo?” Cher asked. 

Jonah stuttered and stumbled on his words before saying, “Ehhh… I don’t really know…”

“What do you mean ‘you don’t know’?” Ting Ting asked, raising an eyebrow.

“That’s all there is to it. I don’t know what to do for a living. Should I be a soldier like Uncle Alex and Aunt Olivier? Or be a businessman like my father? Or could I be something else? But what would that something else be?” Jonah sighed and leaned further into his cushion. 

“What about being an alchemist?” Tommy asked.

“Tommy, you know me better than everyone else in this room; there’s no way in hell I’ll ever become an alchemist.” Jonah retorted.

“Why not? I thought that the alchemical arts had been passed down the Armstrong line for generations? We could journey around Amestris together, helping to fix stuff for people. We could make a business out of it! Obviously we’ll charge reasonably, but it’s a plan!” Tommy realised that he finished his candies, and reached for another bowl of snacks.

Jonah drummed his fingers against the pink carpeted floor, then shook his head. “Nah, I just… don’t really want to do it. Ya know? Like, when I was younger, that was when people could tell me what to do. ‘Be a soldier like your aunt and uncle’, ‘invest in real estate like your father’, ‘play the piano’, ‘learn alchemy’, ‘learn fencing’. Blah blah blah. I’m an adult now; I want to go out and explore my options. You know, with nothing tying me down.”

Ting Ting stiffened her lip, and took another bite out of the snacks. Next to her, Cher nodded her head. “That sounds cool. Although I do actually want to help out people the way my parents did. Practicing my Alkahestry, and currently I’m learning all about how to manage a charity event.”

“It will take more than head-knowledge for you to help people, cousin,” Said Ting Ting. 

“That’s why I’m learning!” she retorted  in frustration

Ting Ting made a face, as if she wanted to say something, but chose to kept quiet.

Jonah yawned a little and said, “Hmm, today was fun, wasn’t it Tommy?” He rested his left arm around Tommy’s neck. 

“If you call teasing me fun…” Tommy groaned. 

“Teasing about what?” Gina asked Tommy.

“Oh, it was about y-”

“How short I am, like how my dad used to be!” Tommy clamped his hand and shut him up before he could utter the G-word. Gina raised an eyebrow in suspicion. Tommy was quite tall compared to his siblings. Tall, and charming, and not at all bad looking with his hair cut short.

Cher placed her index finger on her lips and winked at the boys, indicating to them that she’ll keep quiet about it. Mostly to save Jonah’s ass; she knew he could be a bit of a loudmouth, and he did not need her help in making a fool out of himself.

Ting Ting glanced up at a small wall clock, carved from wood to be shaped like an owl. She recalled when her cousin got that. Last year, during a political trip to Amestris. They went out shopping and Cher wanted to get the owl the minute she saw it. Ting Ting never saw why she needed a souvenir like that, but she supposed that it was cute. Although it made the most annoying  cuckooing noise every hour. 

Silently, she checked the time. Only five minutes had passed since she entered the room, yet she desired to get out. With a stretch, she placed her emptied bowl down, and stood up. “Now, Cher, that was all quite entertaining, but I should really get going now. Remember, you have a party tomorrow. The ceremony would be expected to last long into the night, and you are expected to act formally. Do rest up properly tonight.” Swiftly, Ting Ting got up and started walking towards the door.

“Wait, I thought you were staying for an hour?” Asked Cher, extending an arm out.

“I changed my mind.” Ting Ting walked out the door and into the hallway without another word.

“Damn, is she always this anal?” Asked Jonah.

“Yes,” Replied Tommy and Gina, as dry as the chips they were eating. 

Cher raised a closed fist to her mouth and coughed. “It’s mainly because of my birthday though. Last year in July, when she had her own eighteenth birthday, she only invited our family members and all the big important political leaders in the country. I think she just wanted to have a big, important political event to show how she’s an adult.” She grew silent for a minute, and her demeanor grew contemplative. Her eyebrows furrowed and she licked her lip. “Come to think about it, in the past, most of her birthdays were pretty boring and quiet too. She always invited family and political leaders and only did all the traditional stuff. According to her, that was how birthdays were done before Uncle Ling became Emperor.”

“Huh, so you’re saying she’s like this because it’s the only way she knew how to party?” Jonah asked with his fingers on his chin. 

“Could be. Her family is very traditional, which isn’t surprising considering the history of her parents.” Gina responded. “Her dad married his bodyguard, and he changed laws specifically for that to happen. Because of that, her mom tried really fricking hard to keep up with royal customs and all that. I think some of it might have rubbed off on Ting Ting.” She licked the potato chip dust off her fingers. “It’s bizarre, really. The bitch is over there talking about the proper, traditional way of doing things, and then there’s me…”

“She still says that you need to take you role as the rulers’ daughter more seriously,” Cher chipped in. “Whenever I bring you up, she’s always like ‘I know her country is a democracy, but for the time being, she is the rulers’ daughter. Hence, she should really be more serious.”

“But she is serious. I’ve heard her on the radio tons of times before. She’s always sounded super professional,” Said Tommy.

“I think Ting Ting might mean that she needs to be serious  _ all _ the time.” Jonah reached for Tommy’s bowl of chips, bored with his rice crackers.

Cher nodded. “Yeah, I think that’s what she means.”

“But I can’t do that! Me on the radio is acting! I can’t just spend my entire life acting, that’ll be fucking bullshit!”

“She probably doesn’t understand the difference between Amestris and Xingese culture though. When was the last time she left Xing?”

“I believe it was in October. The Emperor wanted to have some peace talks with Drachma, because they’re trying to expand over here. You know, now that they’ve signed the treaty with Amestris, they’re looking for other countries to expand to. The Dong’s up North were really worried about going to war.” 

“Hm, sounds serious,” Tommy commented.

“It was. Ting Ting keep telling me that those threats were why I needed to stop wasting time and take thing seriously. But the thing is, I do take things seriously! I study Alkahestry, I help my parents gather donations for the girl’s school, I think she’s just anal because that wasn’t how things were done in Xing ‘in the past’.” Cher complained.

“Yeah, I agree. Thank goodness Amestris is in a state of peace, I don’t see any reason for major changes right now,” Tommy commented. 

Gina nodded, then yawned. “Whew, anywho, I’m feeling pretty tired. I feel like I could doze off any moment…”

“Waaait! We still have a chapter to read! Don’t you wanna find out what happens to Travis after the fight?”

“We’ll do that tomorrow night, ‘kay? I’m bloody tired…” Gina murmured before dozing off on her cushion. 

With a giggle, Cher flipped onto her back, and kicked off her slippers. “Alright then. How about you boys?”

“I’m pretty tired too,” Said Tommy, getting up and stretching.

“Same here, Cherie,” Said Jonah. He placed his hands into his deep pockets, then began strolling out of the room. “I’m going to hit the sack. See you tomorrow, birthday girl.” 

“See you, goodnight!” She called out to the two men as they walked out her door. 

Once they left, she got up, and walked over to her desk. There she had left the gift Jonah gave her, still untouched and wrapped up. She picked it up, and inspected it, twisting it around and observing Jonah’s work. Wrapped neatly in a pink bow. So small, and so quaint. She never knew Jonah was capable of wrapping a gift so delicately.

Slowly, she pulled the ribbon, letting the neat little bow come undone. The yellow wrapping paper covering the present fell out of its tightly bound position, and revealed a small box to Cher. She opened it, and inside she saw the smallest, simplest pair of ear studs. But though it was cut in a standard, round shape, and the gems adorning it were simple aquamarines, she looked at the silvery set of jewellery, and smiled at it as if it was one of the greatest treasures she had ever received. Carefully, she placed them into a small ornate jewellery box, the one she always left on her desk. It was quite empty, as she saw no use for too much jewellery. The only accessories she wore most days was a small pair of simple ear studs. A souvenir of a trip to Amestris when she was younger. then went back to her cushion. As she lay there in the dark room, dozing off, she promised herself that she would wear those earrings tomorrow.

*****

_ Xing, 3rd March 1944 _

If there was a word to describe the palace ballroom, it would be ‘red’. From the smooth painted walls, to the carpet covering the marble floor, to the long, silky curtains, everything there had some shade of the auspicious colour. There was the occasional spot of gold strewn about - at the bottom of pillars and as chairs and tables - which made the ballroom look all the more grand. Even the tall windows, aside from being adorned by red and gold silk, had their frames painted a bright scarlet. There were, however, two exceptions to the red theme of the room. The first was the marble floor. Its colours striking black and icy white, it looked as cold as it felt. The second exception was a majestic golden dragon hung from the ceiling like a giant chandelier. Crafted by some of the best goldsmiths Xing ever had, the dragon hung above the ballroom for over a thousand years, watching the many feasts, celebrations, and ceremonies that took place with its big, onyx eyes.

When the evening came, and the sunset casted a warm orange glow over everything, the guests started to enter the ballroom. For the party, Cher had decided to limit the guests down to her family (all fifty rulers representing their clans, plus their immediate families), along with her cousins in Amestris, her best friend, and their families. Somewhere along the line, Tommy told her that his best friend would come too. 

That very same best friend now sat two tables from Cher. His red tie was falling apart, obviously not properly tied, and his face was being stuffed with braised peanuts. Crumbs were falling off his mouth and some even got caught in between his suit and tie. Tiny bits of brown sauce dripped from his fork, making a mess out of the table. Luckily for him, he didn’t create any unsightly stains on his expensive suit. 

It was a comedic sight. Him, seated at the Amestrian table in his ruby red suit and tie. All the men around him - heck, even the women around him - wore clothes that were far less flashy. When questioned about his clothing choices, he responded that such styles of dressing had been passed down both the Armstrong and Joestar likes for generations. And whenever he responded to a question in that manner, you would leave him to do what he wants.

She was well-aware that him being seated at the ‘Amestrian table’ (or as her Xingese cousins called it, the ‘no chopsticks table’) would already make him the target of jokes among the clans. Especially since he was new meat. She had heard her cousins joke about a lot of things. The Amestrians’ inability to use chopsticks; Uncle Ed’s small stature and big family; the time Uncle Roy grew a moustache, they made fun of that. (Although then, she thought that was reasonable. Because that moustache was seriously ugly.)

She sieved through the peanuts and picked out the fattest of the lot to eat. With one hand expertly using her ivory chopsticks, and another holding up her round face, she ate. Her long-sleeved dress did not allow for much movement, but she adjusted her posture so that her elbow could rest on the table. Her pose, along with the distant expression on her face, made it clear that she was daydreaming. 

The clearest sound she could hear were her own thoughts. All other conversations, similar to when a painter mixes too many colours together, mixed to form an uninteresting buzzy mess. One she could happily ignore in favour of La-La Land. Slowly, she chewed her food, tapped her foot, drummed her fingers on her cheek. But her mind was moving faster than her movements would suggest. Already, at half-past six on her eighteenth birthday, she was planning the first book she would read the day after. 

Earlier that morning, Gina had gifted her with a whole series of steamy Amestrian romance novels. She always preferred those. Compared to the Xingese, the Amestrians were not shy to talk about such subjects at all. Although Gina said that there were still stigmas against sexuality, the mere fact that those types of books existed should mean something.

“Elbows off the table, Cher,” her mother said. Her unusually stern tone jolted from her daydreams and she quickly adjusted her posture. Back straight, legs folded, elbows notably off the table. 

It was uncomfortable, having to sit up straight in a tight dress. But she needed to follow proper dining etiquette, regardless of her personal feelings. Especially considering that there were guests present. Guests of high standing who would look down on those who don’t follow it, especially if the offender was a certain Xingese princess. Secretly, as she ate, she wished she could wear some of those dresses the Amestrian women wore. They looked loose, comfortable, and she adored the way they looked too. 

The first part of the party; the fine dining, went off without a hitch. Generally everyone were well-behaved. Well, maybe except for Jonah. His plate got so messy it looked like a violent crime scene. The servants assigned to serve the guests at the party shot scornful looks towards the foreigner’s table. They were definitely disgusted by how Jonah presented himself at the dining table. But they did not have much time to act resentful towards Jonah. The ballroom needed to be cleaned up and prepared for the next event. A little magic show, whose performer was hired personally by the Emperor himself. 

Or at least, that was the plan.

“Papa…” Ting Ting said, her tone hushed. 

“Shh, just wait for it.” he said, waving his hand. 

The magician’s act was supposed to have begun five minutes ago, but there was no sign of a magician anywhere. No moustached men in flowy capes, black suits and tall top hats. Not even a single prop set up.

A few more moments passed. The ballroom was in a state of tense silence, expecting something to happen… and nothing. Everyone was deathly still, except for a few who started whispering between themselves. Ling cracked a little smile, much to the confusion of her daughter. He then winked at his old friend Edward Elric, who then stood up from his chair and said with a monotonous voice, “Oh well, there’s nothing here, so I’m going to open this window.”

Edward then strolled towards a large window, much to the bewilderment of his family and the other guests. With a ‘click’, he unlocked the wide window, and pushed the glass panels apart. But the moment he opened it, an old man flew inside with a hang glider, decking him in the face with his knees as he zoomed inside. Ed let out an embarrassingly high-pitched “YOW!” as he fell to the ground with a thud. The old man landed in the middle of the ballroom, skillfully avoiding the heads of the other guests.

He landed gracefully on both feet. As he did, the hang glider burst apart into a million leaves. Red, orange, and yellow scattered around the ballroom, like natural confetti. He rose amidst the pile of colored leaves triumphantly. The old man donned white cloths over his waist and neck. However, unlike what a regular person would expect from a monk, an old monk no less, the man had a look, a vibe, as spry and youthful as a man in his thirties. His muscles, though not massive like a bodybuilder’s, still looked extremely sturdy and was clearly the result of rigorous strength-training. His revealing choice of clothing revealed his well-toned abdominal muscles glistening under the light of the ballroom. The only obvious artifact that clearly shows the monk’s age was his face, with evidence of aging found in the form of wrinkles on his forehead and below his eyes. His beard was long and as white as silver. By contrast, his head was completely bald, showing clearly his naked brown scalp for everyone to see.

“Hey Ling!” Yelled Ed from the floor. “What the hell! You didn’t tell me someone was gonna come out of the window like that!” 

He rubbed his forehead, where a comically large red bump was forming. The Emperor merely laughed at his friend’s plight. 

“Oh, don’t worry about that Ed. Ya Ya over there’ll fix you up.”

As soon as he said that, Ya Ya poked Edward’s diaphragm with his pinky. But he did it with such immense force; Ed felt like his forehead was stabbed with a dagger. He hunched over, clutching his stomach and wincing in pain. 

“Ed!” Cried Winry. In an instant she was up, rushing to her husband’s side. As if it was instinct, Kurt followed her. Quickly, like the good medics they were, they propped Ed up and inspected his wounds. 

“Dad, are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m…I… actually feel a lot better.”

Winry and Kurt shifted their attentions back to the bruise on Ed’s forehead. Or rather, the bruise that  _ was _ on his forehead. They, along with the entire assembly in the ballroom, watched as the big red bruise shrank. The red faded back into Ed’s olive skin tone. s if he was never injured in the first place. Ya Ya flashed a smile and a thumbs up, to which Edward returned with a furious glare. Winry and Kurt dragged the angry blonde to his chair, though he was still glaring daggers at the magician.

Ya Ya returned to centre stage after his little opening act, and bowed at the audience. “I hope you enjoyed that trick of mine, ladies and gentlemen. Because tonight, I’ll be performing many more wondrous tricks for your viewing pleasure! Yes, tonight, I shall captivate you all with my stunning works, my dazzling tricks, my marvellous magic!”

That speech, delivered with such pride and gusto, drove the audience into a round of applause. Cheer filling the air, Ya Ya began his next trick. “Watch this!”

He collected some leaves scattered on the ground and kept them in between his palms. Then, he slowly slid his right hand forward, revealing a line of leaves stacked on top of each other. Yellow sparks flowed through each leaf, as if a mystical energy was being channeled through them. He swung the newly formed leaf sword gracefully, the leaves remaining taut and sturdy after every consecutive swing. After testing the sword, he readied a battle stance. In a flash, he sprung upward, surprising the crowd with his speed and strength. He performed a flashy frontflip and landed gracefully on his feet, causing the audience to erupt into another round of cheer. 

Ya Ya smirked, clearly enjoying the attention. He began sweeping across the floor, dancing with the sword. As if he was sparring with an invisible being. Like a gust of wind, his graceful yet powerful movements blew the surrounding leaves, forming a whirlwind around him. He finished the sword dance with a swing upwards. With a single swing, the leaves were quickly thrown upwards. The leaves then fell slowly like petals around the warrior monk, the monk standing perfectly still until the last leaf touched the ground. The assembly gave a round of applause, but was interrupted when the man started moving again.

“Now for the next act!”

He gripped the blade of his leaf-sword, and carefully molded it into a cylinder. The same was done to the side with the hilt. Travelling down, he stopped after he crafted a foot-long cylinder on both sides. At that point, he used his fingers to thin out the leaves in the centre. Finally, his new prop was done, and he presented his new set of nunchucks to the audience. He then brought the weapon close to his chest. The monk closed his eyes and started to take long, deep breaths. A yellow, fiery aura slowly manifested around the old man, awing the crowd. Jonah in particular watched the man with extreme admiration. He was a fan of magic shows and illusions, but the man in front of him was no ordinary magician. These tricks were  _ real _ .

The man swung the nunchucks around his shoulders, alternating to each side with every swing. The speed of the nunchucks gradually grew until the weapon itself became a green blur. As the monk spun the nunchucks around his body, the stray leaves on the floor began to rise, picking up on the momentum of the weapon. Again, like in his very first act, he flew gracefully around the area. But the leaves were much faster than before, this time creating a fierce tornado around the monk. However, this time, the monk’s breathing rhythm was beginning to falter. His breath grew heavier with every step he took and his arms started to tremor every time he swung the nunchucks. This time, he opted to end the dance quickly. He attempted to slow down the speed of his nunchucks, then disposed of the leaves around him. With one firm swing of his nunchucks, he caused the leaves to fly towards a pillar. He grabbed both ends of the nunchucks and finally dismantled it by slamming his palms together, crushing the weapon. As he brought his hands to his side, the leaves fell to the ground and slowly uncurled back into their original state. The old man bowed, and was met with a resounding applause.

“Thank you, thank you. I would love to perform more, but I have some important matters to attend to. Thank you for being such a lovely audience!” he exclaimed, to which the assembly cheered. Briskly, he walked out of the ballroom, and then shortly after, Emperor Ling excused himself from the party. 

“Damn, that was amazing! It was more of a fighting dance show than a magic show though…” Tommy commented while nudging Jonah. 

No response. 

Annoyed, he turned to see a completely awe-struck Jonah. His jaw was dropped and his body was as still as a statue. He didn’t even blink. Tommy waved his hand around Jonah’s face in an attempt to get a reaction from him. No response again. He slapped his face, but that triggered an odd response from Jonah. One that he did not expect.

“Ohmygoddidyouseethatthatwassocoolimeanleavesaren’tsupposedtoactlikethatbuttheyjustdidandtheotherleavesjustflewalongwithititwaslikehewasthewindohmygodthatwassocoo-”

Tommy slapped his face again.

“Wuh- Oh. Ehh, the show was alright I guess.” Jonah collected himself and attempted to hide his excitement from watching the show.

“Yeah sure. As if you weren’t just rambling off earlier like a child.” Gina smirked. 

“Shut up!” 

The duo erupted into a fit of giggles. While they were busy laughing, Cher crept up towards them, in a tight red dress and uncomfortable, but fashionable, leather shoes. It was in fashion for shoes to be soundless when a lady walked, which gave her cousin and friends a mild surprise when she asked (admittedly rather loudly) “What’re you guys laughing at?”

“JoJo’s reaction just now. He just went full fangirl about the magic show! I think that old man just got a new fan!” Tommy laughed. 

“Why are you laughing? It was cool!”

“Hey JoJo since you’re such a big fan-”

“I’m not _ that  _ big a fan!” His words of denial fell on deaf ears. 

“You really should have see JoJo just now Cher. He was all ‘Ohmigod! That was the greatest fucking thing I’ve ever seen! Gasp! Awestruck!” Gina was stopped with a light punch to the shoulder.

“Hey, anyways, do you know what Uncle Ling is doing with that man?” Cher asked. “He had to leave pretty suddenly after the show. I wonder if everything’s okay.”

“Hmm… not sure.” Answered Tommy, stuffing his hands into his suit jacket pockets. “Hey, where are you going, Cher?”

“To go check on them. I’m curious.” 

Jonah stood up, and walked up beside her. “I’ll go with you!” His eagerness prompted snickers from Tommy and Gina.

“Shut up. I’m not  _ that _ much of a fanboy. He’s just… interesting to me.”

“Whatever you need to tell yourself JoJo. Go one ahead. And tell us if anything interesting happens,” Said Gina. She stood up, and her dark blue dress billowed out. “In the meantime, I’ll be getting some drinks.”

“Ask Mum and Dad. They’ll help you around.” And with that, Gina left to get drinks, while Cher and Jonah went off to check on her uncle and his friend.

“Hey, Cher?” Whispered Jonah, halfway through their quiet journey down the hallways.

“Mm?”

“Everyone in your family can sense chi right? How’re you gonna avoid being noticed if your uncle’s gonna notice you with chi? What if the conversation was supposed to remain confidential?” 

Jonah did not get an instant answer. Instead, Cher stopped in the hallway and licked her lips. Jonah stopped beside her too, waiting for an answer.

“You can avoid getting your chi picked up on.”

“Really?” Jonah’s knowledge of chi extended only to snippets of speeches tour guides have said while he was holidaying with his family. None of them had ever mentioned anything like this about chi.

“Yes. I’ve done it before, in fact. But we need to be careful, and very quiet. So shush.” With that, she carried on silently shuffling through the halls.

Jonah loitered besides her, then shrugged and caught up. He supposed whatever it was they were going to find out, it would be worth a leap of faith. After all, he was a young adult in Xing. A few adventures would be a welcomed break from the formal festivities.

*****

Ling walked out of the ballroom, where he found Ya Ya waiting for him. The monk quickly bowed in respect and continued walking together with the emperor. They walked quickly, until finally they entered a small, empty room. Away from any passers-by who may hear their conversation.

“Thank you for the performance earlier, Ya Ya. With such a busy schedule, I didn’t expect you to make it here in time.” Ling said.

“It was no problem, Emperor. I do enjoy having a little fun from time to time.”

“Well then, what did you want to talk about?”

“I have been investigating the disappearance of Xingese citizens ever since these trains were built. What I’ve found is… terrifying.”

There was a short pause, before continuing, “I’ve found the bodies of some of the missing victims, in the buildings near the new train station. All of them were torn apart, as if they were eaten by vicious animals.”

“Animals? That town is surrounded by deserts for miles, and we don’t even have a zoo there…”

“I’ve also had a sighting of what could be the potential culprit.”

Ling raised a brow, and leaned in closer to listen. “Tell me more.”

“When I was looking through one of the warehouses, I found a man tearing away at one of those corpses. The man had sharp fangs protruding from its jaws, similar to a bat. It appears to be afraid of the light, because the moment I walked in, it hissed and disappeared in the blink of an eye.”

“A man… with fangs? Like a Homunculus?”

“A Homunculus? No, that can’t be, you helped to eradicate those monsters during your younger days, didn’t you?”

“Yes, one of my friends witnessed Gluttony die with his own eyes, so that can’t be it. Anyway, thank you for the work you have done, Ya Ya. I cannot thank you enough.”

“My pleasure, Emperor Ling. Besides, my family is forever indebted to-”

A loud thud interrupted his words. They turned around to see a bulky man on the ground, shoelaces noticeably untied and a familiar princess lying on top of him. The man looked up and with a sheepish smile, he uttered, “Uh, hello there.”

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gk-iWj_a-68>

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tabby: A little note on how we got the names of the characters, because I like music, and Loud likes tanks. That makes us the right people to name JoJo and FMA OCs.
> 
> -Tommy and Gina are named after characters in the Bon Jovi song "Livin' on a Prayer".  
> -Cher is named after the singer Cher.  
> -Ting Ting is named after the band The Ting Tings.  
> -Ya Ya is named after the band The Yeah Yeah Yeahs.  
> -Sherman and Cromwell are named after tanks from one of the World Wars. I have decided that their first names will be Mack and Lewis, named after Macklemore and Ryan Lewis.  
> -Kurt, Amy, Jimi and Janis are named after musicians in the 27 Club. (Specifically Kurt Cobain, Amy Winehouse, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin.)


	4. Hone Your Skills

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tabby: Late chapter again! Sigh, school is a soul sucker...
> 
> Loud: Have fun reading! I don't really have that much to say besides the fact that I didn't write that much compared to Tabby.

_Xing, 3rd March 1944_

“Why are you dragging me? Can’t you see the looks everyone was giving us?” Jonah asked quietly, his arm extended out with Cher dragging him by it.

“Come on, lighten up a little bit! Dad and the magician should be around… here.” She pointed to a door. “I can sense their chi, but now we gotta be careful so that they don’t sense ours.”

“Uh, how do I hide my chi again? I mean, there’s probably a lot of energy flowing through _these guns_.” Jonah flexes his biceps and smiles cheekily at Cher, to which she responded with a playful light smack to the cheek.

“Just don’t flex, dummy.”

“Wait, is that it?” Jonah placed a hand on his forehead in mock agony. “Oh, how could I have been such a fool? All this time, it was that easy?” he jokingly facepalmed and let out a large gasp.

“It was indeed, you idiot. Now, aren’t you glad I came in and saved you from your own incompetence?” asked Cher, playing along with a grin. She placed a finger on her lips. “Now hush, we need to listen to what they’re saying.”

She pressed her ear to the door, and Jonah did likewise. To balance himself, he places a hand on the doorknob, and to get a closer listen, he took a few steps forward. It would have been a perfectly fine change in position, if only he had tied his shoelaces. A couple steps forward, and he stepped on an untied lace. He pressed down on the doorknob, and tripped forward. Cher, thinking as quick as she could, grabbed his shirt and tried to pull him up. Unfortunately, him being both bigger and taller than her logically meant that he was too heavy for her to lift. They both wound up falling through the doorway.

The couple looked up and saw the Emperor of Xing and a powerful magician looking down at them, bewilderment in their eyes. Jonah looked up, a sheepish grin on his face. “Uh, hello there.”

Immediately, Cher got up and brushed herself off. “Sorry about that uncle, Mr Ya Ya. We got curious as to where you were going, and we wanted to know what was happening. I hope you guys weren’t discussing anything private and confidential.” She hastily bowed before them.

Her uncle and Ya Ya smiled at her, and Ya Ya extended a hand to help Jonah up. “It was an important matter, what we were discussing. However, I suppose it is important that we tell you, Cher.” Ya Ya turned to face her. “Your Uncle did mention how you were quite prodigious at alkahestry, and maybe I could use a disciple to help continue my teachings.” he said, dodging the topic of the monster.

“I heard a little something before then,” said Jonah. “I caught a bit about that. Something about a threat with monsters?”

“It’s really nothing for you to concern yourself about. Nothing, I assure you. Anyway, Cher, my clan requires that I find a disciple, and you look like you can make the cut. Do you want to study under me? ” Ya Ya laid a hand on Cher’s shoulder, a kind look on his face.

“Sure, I’d-”

“I’ll join in too!” Jonah interrupted with a grin, his hand placed on Cher’s other shoulder.

“Hmm, really? I thought you weren’t interested in alchemy in general. ” Cher raised an eyebrow, a smirk on her face.

“Hey, alchemy is still kinda interesting. Your dad used it to fight right? At least I get to use these guns-”

“No flexing! Don’t shoot!” Cher said, playfully shoving her elbow into his gut.

“Alright, alright!”

Ya Ya stroked his beard, and hummed quietly while he thought. “Very well then. But considering you have no basic knowledge of alchemy nor alkahestry, I will have to put you through very intensive training,” He suggested.

“If that’s what it takes, then teach the thing, old man! After all, the art of learning things quickly has been passed down both the Joestar _and_ the Armstrong lines for generations! I bet I could learn it in a month!” He snickered, gesturing flamboyantly.

“Its like your family passes down everything down the line for generations,” Cher commented.

“Of course! Even this suit I’m wearing was passed down to me by uncle Alex,” he boasted, showing off his suit. His prideful gusto quickly turned into embarrassment as he realizes that he got some stains on the suit that Alex lent him.

Ya Ya returned his jokes with a stern glare, and immediately Jonah switched from his usual jokey attitude to a more serious one. It was an instinctual reaction. One he had picked up after making many inappropriate comments while his aunt Olivier was in the same room as he. For a moment, he expected the old man to launch into a lecture about how much time and hard work learning the art of alkahestry would take. Because of that, he started to form in his head a snarky comeback. But what the old man did next surprised him.

Ya Ya smiled at him. What’s more, it wasn’t a small, polite smile, like he was so used to from his family. Instead, it was a large, toothy, ‘hit-me-with-your-best-shot’ smile. The type of smile he was used to seeing on Tommy and Gina’s dads. “So, you’re up for the challenge aren’t you? That’s good! This attitude is the type I want from my students!”

Emperor Ling nodded at them, and spoke up. “Alright then. I imagine it won’t be too much of a problem for Cher, but since Jonah comes from Amestris, we should send his family the news.”

“Yes we should. Anyway, don’t you two want to go back to the party?”

“Yeah, sure!” Cher skipped ahead and exited the room. Jonah followed suit, occasionally calling for her to slow down.

The room was now empty, with Ling and Ya Ya being the sole occupants of the room. Ling knows Ya Ya had found more information which he withheld from the two young ones. He could tell from the way Ya Ya’s expression changed. Although earlier he flashed the two a toothless grin, it quickly changed to a more serious, intimidating frown. Turning to Ling, he began to finish his report that was interrupted earlier.

*****

The guests slowly streamed out of the ballroom in droves. Most were disappointed at the anti-climatic end of the magic show. As such, most of the families decided to head back and sleep. Their expectations of something new and interesting happening were low. To them, it was best to just go back to their living quarters.

However, when Riza Mustang informed her husband and daughter that she had a headache, her daughter asked if she could stay behind while her mother rested. “To catch up with the Elrics,” She said.

Her parents gave her thin-lipped, concerned expressions. “Please make sure you don’t drink too much this time, dear.” Her mother grimaced at an old memory.

The previous year, during a private after-party, her daughter had drunk too much and challenged Princess Ting Ting to a competition of marksmanship. In her hazy, drunk mind, she thought it was a good time to do such a thing. Since then, her parents had been cautiously watching her alcohol consumption. A limit of no more than three cups. Even in private gatherings.

“Relax mum. We’ve been doing this for what? Six months already? Back in September during Emperor Ling’s birthday? I know my limits now. And I’ll be sure that I don’t do anything stupid.” She grinned sweetly at her parents.

Her father nodded, although his brow was still furrowed with slight worry. “Get back before midnight. And I better not hear about any incidents in the morning, you got that?”

“Of course daddy. Now, you get mama back, and don’t worry about me.” She moulded her mouth into a small smile. One that walked the line between sincere and forced.  “I mean, I’m an adult now! Surely you have to trust me!”

That seemed reasonable enough to her parents, and they nodded at her. Gina was nineteen. They always told her that she should be responsible, and how could she do that if they did not give her those opportunities? Her father placed one hand on her mother’s shoulder, the other on the small of her back, and they both walked off.

Once they were out the door, Gina turned back to face her friends. The four youngest Elrics grinned at her, and she smirked back. On the table, the glass bottle of rice wine glistened under the bright lights of the ballroom. Electricity was a fairly recent import from Amestris to Xing, and Gina was intrigued at the ways they designed and utilised lights. Incorporating lightbulbs into a long string, Cher said that they called those “pixie lights”. Amestris had something similar called fairy lights, but pixie lights occasionally changed colour, which Gina found to be cooler. They were also brighter. Fairy lights may be good for a soft glow in dark rooms, but pixie lights made rooms in Xing practically glow.

As she took her seat, she decided that this was the best way to spend evenings. Good friends, a well-decorated room filled with glassy fairy lights, and some alcohol. She promised not to return to the room drunk. But that did not mean she should not drink at all. A few cups would not hurt. They would not hurt at all…

*****

“I’ll be moving to Dublith in order to take over the business. Auntie Izumi isn’t the healthiest now, so sometimes I’m going to run the shop alone with Mason while Uncle Sig looks after her. And I keep telling Mum and Dad that it’ll be _fine_ , and I won’t get into trouble while I’m away, but you know how parents are,” chuckled Janis, elbowing Gina’s sides.

Gina laughed alongside her, a cup of rice wine in her hand. “Don’t I know it! My parents are always so freaking paranoid whenever I do something like, go on a date with a guy! They always spend the evening worrying if the guy was a creep. Hell, I remember before my first date, Mum taught me how to shoot a gun to protect myself.”

“At least your mom taught you how to use a gun. Meanwhile, my mom taught me how to throw a wrench,” Amy giggled.

“I think she had a lot of practice on Dad. He told me once that she used to fling wrenches at him whenever he broke his automail,” Jimi said.

“Oh, is that why our target practice was throwing wrenches at those really short mannequins with blonde wigs?” Janis wondered aloud. The group erupted into childish giggles.

Three tables away, Ting Ting watched them and drummed her fingers on the tabletop. She wanted to sigh, but that would only draw attention to herself. The room was huge and empty. Servants had moved most of the furniture out of the room, and the only people left in the room were herself, the small group of friends, and a couple of servants. Any sound she made would echo and travel into the ears of the group in front of her. And though she knew that they were aware of her being there, she did not feel like drawing attention to herself.

So she watched them. She observed the way they laughed. Amy with her dainty, ladylike giggles, Jimi with his shit-eating grins, Janis with her snorts and toothy smiles, Tommy with his nasally chuckles, and Gina with her loud, roaring laughs.

Ting Ting was sure that a part of the reason why she was laughing like that was the alcohol. In the beginning, Gina sipped her rice wine. She was careful, calculated, responsible. Then the group got deeper into the conversation. And she started drinking more. And more. And more.

Just when she thought Gina was getting more responsible, she had to prove her wrong. Gina was doing so well too. Ting Ting drummed her fingers harder against the table, partially out of boredom, partially out of disappointment. Her father told her that she had a tendency to “micromanage” other people. He also said that it was a bad habit. She never understood why though. Surely a ruler would be better by being strict with people. The scandals that follow Cher around is proof enough that being too lax does not make a good ruler.

Then a familiar voice called out to her, and Ting Ting let out the annoyed sigh that had been building up in her. They say history repeats itself. Unfortunately, this time it repeated unsupervised.

*****

Ting Ting rolled her eyes at the president’s daughter. The older girl, who was now standing above her on the table, an empty glass containing traces of rice wine in her hand. “Honestly, Gina. I know that you only do this in private with family and family friends, but you must work on being more refined. After all, someday you may act up like this in public.”

Gina squatted down and faced Ting Ting at eye level. She giggled drunkenly, then placed her glass upside-down on the table. “What’s the matter? Chicken? Don’t think you can beat me at marksmanship?”

Ting Ting blushed at that comment. “Don’t be ridiculous.” Though she was confident in her skills, it did sting to have them insulted.

“It ended in a tie last time I challenged you, didn’t it?” Gina smirked at Ting Ting, finding her growing embarrassment amusing. “During my birthday right? Back in October? We actually showed down and we tied. You’re not the only person who knows how to aim, Princess. And I’ve been practicing my aim too. Every week, two hours at the shooting range with my trusty slingshot. That’s a hundred and four hours worth of practice since I last challenged you.” As she leaned down further, her grin grew larger and larger. She pressed a finger on Ting Ting’s face. “I bet I’m even better than you now.”

She rolled her eyes again. Surely, Gina should have outgrown such childish behaviours. During the few times when Xing and Amestris had peace talks, and they both came along, Gina was always so refined and classy. It was only during these small family gatherings, then she lets herself go. Though she had been smart to only act up away from the public eye, it did not make this behaviour any less annoying.

The Elrics had walked up to her too. For a while, the only thing they had done was watch and gawk at what was happening. Then, someone spoke up. At first, Ting Ting assumed that someone would try to stop Gina.

“Ohh, Cher talked about this with me yesterday!” Said Amy, her voice perky. “She said that she prepared special targets just in case Gina got drunk today! It’s too bad that she won’t be here to witness it, but I remember where she said she put them! They’re hidden somewhere in her bedroom!”

“Well, I would personally like to see where this is going, so I’ll volunteer to get it.” Jimi pushed his glasses up, a smirk on his face.

Tommy waved an arm at his brother. “I’ll help!” And the two were off to get the wooden boards.

“According to my calculations, Ting Ting has a 57.1 percent chance of beating Gina in this,” Said Jimi, adjusting his glasses.

“But that still means Gina has a chance of beating Ting Ting, doesn’t it? So I’ll still root for her!”

“There’s a 100 percent chance that you’re just saying that because you have a crush on her.”

“Oi!”

They bantered their way out of the room, and within fifteen minutes they were back with the wooden boards. Circular, and painted red and white, they were rather impressive for something made by an amateur woodcrafter.

“I hope you brought your A-game today bitch!” Gina slurred. “Because I definitely brought mine!”

Ting Ting tried her best to ignore her. From her long, red sleeve, she pulled out her trusted kunai. Her favourite weapon, it has almost never left her side. Not since she got it for her twelfth birthday. She knows it like the back of her hand. And she’ll bet that she knows it much better than Gina knows her slingshot. Though she had practiced with it for two hours every week, Ting Ting had practiced her knife throwing for an hour every _day._ She was sure that she would be the victor.

The two positioned themselves approximately a meter away from the wooden boards. That gave the girls plenty of space between the boards for it to be a challenge.

“Me first,” Said Gina, her clumsy fingers positioning a hard, dry eraser on the elastic band. “Lemme show you how much I’ve improved. I’m sure I’ll kick your ass.”

Ting Ting nodded, grimacing at Gina’s uncouth behaviour. “Go on ahead then.”

Gina grinned at her, showing off a large, toothy, ‘hit-me-with-your-best-shot’ smile. She took on a confident stance, and pressed her eraser against the rubber band with her thumb and index finger. Then she pulled the rubber band back.

For a moment, she seemed solid standing there. Her limbs, though they seemed limp earlier from the alcohol, appeared firm and stable. Gina took in a deep breath, and let it out as she aimed. With one eye closed, and one brown eye on the target, she looked like a focused marksman.

Then she let go of the rubber band and immediately dropped to the floor and everything happened at once.

Tommy ran up to her, calling her name. So did all his siblings. Even Ting Ting was a little shocked. But she merely stood still, trying her best to not drop her jaw. Though she had been drunk in the past, she had never _passed out._ Sure, she drank quite a few cups of rice wine. But surely it wasn’t enough to warrant _fainting._

Amy walked up to her, and started to slap her, in an attempt to wake her up. “Kurt told me I’m supposed to do this if someone faints. Oh come on Gina, wake up…” she squeaked, while anxiously stammering under her breath.

And then to add to that chaos, the doors slammed open and Cher and Jonah filed in. “We’re baaaaaack!” They said. Their cheerful demeanours were out of place, to say the least.

Then Amy slapped her an eleventh time, and instantly, Gina jolted up. Her first words once she woke up were “Did I win?” As if that was the most important thing in the world.

There was a collective sigh of relief in the room as everyone realised that the situation was less dire than it appeared.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Asked Cher, walking towards the group.

“These two were in the middle of a marksman competition,” said Amy, gesturing at Gina and Ting Ting. “Gina was drunk while she challenged Ting Ting, and she just woke up from fainting.

Gina placed a hand on her forehead. “I don’t think I can return to my parent’s room tonight then. I promised that I wouldn’t get drunk, and now look what happened. They’ll flip their shit!”

Cher chuckled. “Guess you’re spending the night in my room again.”

“Guess so.” She turned towards the wooden board, a smile creeping up on her face. “But did I win? That’s what I want to know.”

Jimi pointed to the ground where she dropped her slingshot. The eraser was right next to it.

“You fainted before you even took your shot.”

“Guess you’ll just have to beat me next year.” Ting Ting said, secretly glad that she remained undefeated for this challenge. Even if it was by default.

*****

“Emperor Ling, though I could not gather more information about the monster in question, I may have found something more… concerning.” Ya Ya said with a pause.

“Is it related to the monster?” the Emperor asked.

“Very likely.”

Ya Ya walks towards a briefcase, the one he had placed in the room before rushing to make a grand entrance earlier. He opened the briefcase, and pulled out a stone mask. It resembled a human face, with two slit holes representing the eyes and fangs protruding underneath the top lip.

“This mask! I’ve seen this before!”

“Yes. When you ordered the tracks to be built across the desert, your excavation teams discovered a hidden chamber that had this mask. Now this very same mask is carried by the monster that is responsible for killing our people.”

“We sent an archaeology team to study the mask and the chamber, right? What happened to them?”

“The chamber collapsed, killing every one of them. Or so we thought. Before the killings started, there were reports of a man with tattered clothes wandering the desert. After that, we had missing persons reports that coincide with where the man was last seen, including a merchant who was en route to Amestris with a horse and a wagon.”

“So this man took a merchant’s caravan back here? Do we know who exactly this person is?”

“Unfortunately, no. The only thing we do know is that the mask could be responsible for the creation of this monster.”

“We cannot rule out the possibility. For now, thank you for retrieving this. There is someone I know who might be able to help with this.” Ling gave a respectful hand gesture to Ya Ya.

“No problem, Emperor Ling. Xing is my country after all, I must do everything I can to protect it.” With that, Ya Ya walks out of the room. As he walked down the corridors of the Emperor’s palace, the golden walls reminded him of his own temple. In his thoughts, he could hear his master’s words and teachings, as if he was walking at his temple at this very moment. Suddenly, the ominous warning given to him by his master, one that he received when he first bonded with his mentor, echoed in his ears again like a haunting phantom.

“Young one, if you choose to continue this journey, you will meet a brutal end. You still have a chance to turn around. Do you wish to continue, knowing you will die?”

He had nowhere else to go back then, so he pushed on. And now he fears that his journey will be ending soon.

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gk-iWj_a-68>


	5. Great Temple

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one will be a little bit short. Admittedly, I was sorta juggling multiple other projects at once and I didn't feel like continuing. Now that I've gotten into the mood, expect a new chapter very soon!

Jonah woke up to the sound of knocking on the door, still feeling groggy from the previous night. Though the ballroom party ended fairly early, the smaller party Cher held with only her friends, free from the judgemental eyes of the other royal families, lasted well into midnight. They also celebrated Jonah, as Cher puts it, “finally doing something productive for once.” Hence, they stayed up well into midnight, only sleeping at two in the morning. 

He trudged towards the door in his blue pyjamas and opened the door, only to be greeted by a very hasty and panicked Cher. 

“Jonah, why are you still in your pyjamas? We’re supposed to leave in ten minutes!” Her hair had obviously been done hastily. Though the style was still quite complex (a weird fusion of braids and twin buns), smaller hairs stuck out of it messily. She obviously did it in a massive rush. 

“Wuh, why?”

“Our training! The magician is waiting for us downstairs!”

The cogs in his head finally started turning as he started to wake up. He then remembered that incident last night. When he tried to sneak up on the magician, only to trip over and become one of his apprentices. Jonah looked at Cher again, and saw that she was wearing a coat and boots. Two large suitcases were placed by her feet. 

“Oh, right! Okay, I will be back in just a minute!” Jonah said with a smile and accidentally slammed the door on her face, nearly waking up Tommy, his roommate in the process.

Tommy got up with a start, and Jonah whispered an apology at him. “Oh, you’re just getting up to leave,” he mumbled. Jonah was always impressed at how quickly his friend could shake off his sleepiness when he got up.

“Yup!” Jonah tossed off his pyjama top and pulled out a white shirt from his trunk. “Wish me luck! I’ll finally be doing something different with my life!” 

Finally, here was something interesting he could do! Away from family expectations, he could be his own man and forge his own path. No more duties, expectations, anything. There would be no need for him to live up to the expectations of either the Joestar or Armstrong family. This was new territory for both the families, and he would pioneer it proudly.

*****  
"I wish I was back home…" Jonah whined, sweat dripping from his nose and nearly falling onto his lip. They were crossing a massive desert west of Xing, where the only thing that could be seen for miles are sand, sand dunes and more sand. The bumpy camel ride didn't help either. He hunched over his camel, unable to maintain his posture anymore due to fatigue. Meanwhile, the smaller Xingese native seem to be taking the ride in stride, back straightened and body swaying according to the rhythm of the camel's walk. Ya Ya stole a glance at the bulky Amestrian and cringed a little. He doesn't seem too fond of this man being his successor, considering his lack of discipline and resilience in a simple camel ride. 

"We're here." Ya Ya announced. As they crossed over a sand dune, they were shocked and awed by the appearance of a grand temple made out of sandstone. It had a shape of a blocky pyramid with a middle lane forming a large staircase. It was a massive structure, nearly as big as the Central Headquarters back in Amestris. It was also cleverly hidden between multitudes of sand dunes and situated far southeast of Amestris, making it nearly invisible to travellers using the main route of travel between Xing and Amestris. Next to the temples, there were small, humble houses also made of sandstone. They were placed in an organized pattern with a clear sand road linking them all to the pyramid. 

"Wha- How did you guys build this temple?! Its so large!" Jonah exclaims in disbelief.

"This temple isn't new. When the alliance between Xing and Amestris was formed, Emperor Ling contracted workers and alchemists from Amestris to build this for us." Ya Ya replied. 

"But why?" Cher asks, his response raising even more questions. 

"Emperor Ling owed a debt to our clan. Though we did not had a leg in the competition to become emperor, he contracted our clan to defend his while he travelled to Amestris." 

"To find the Philosopher's stone?" 

"The Philosopher's what now?" 

"That's a story for another day, Jonah." 

"Fine." 

With that, they ordered their camels to march towards the great temple. They passed by a row of houses, all empty save for a few old people. 

"Where are all the residents?" Cher asked. 

"Oh, we are having a weekly feast in the temple today, and everyone is obliged to come and prepare the food. For the older ones who cannot climb the steps, we have the younger ones send a portion to them." Ya Ya replied. They soon turned into a stable, where they kept their camels with the local stable owner. 

"Visitors?" the burly man grunted. Though his white beard and bald scalp indicated he was fairly old, he was still pretty well-built. 

"Yes, Brother Ron. They are my new students." The burly man merely replied with a grunt, making the two newcomers feel uneasy. 

"Don't worry about him. It is just the way he goes." Ya Ya says to reassure the two young kids. The large old man only served to further make them less welcome by slamming the door on them right when they left the stable. The two foreigners followed meekly behind Ya Ya onto the flight of steps. When they arrived at the temple, they were pleasantly surprised to see the place packed with people. Some were children, roughly around the ages of eight to ten. They carried fruits and vegetables back and forth to the temple's kitchen. Some of them quietly snuck out a berry and ate them before giving the baskets to their mothers. Their mothers then quickly sorted out the foodstuffs in the baskets before sending them to the kitchen, where the older and more veteran chefs of both genders resided. The men were tasked with the heavy-lifting, having to bring the furniture from one place to another and transporting the heavier foods such as meat and dairy into the temple. Even the main entrance was bustling with activity. Ya Ya motioned at the two teens to follow him, but they struggled to keep up with the monk. Within a few seconds, the pair had lost sight of Ya Ya and are now drifting among waves and waves of unfamiliar people. However, among the crowd, there seems to be a woman, fairly average height and long black silky hair, which contrasted with the locals that kept their hair to a modest length, even the women. Jonah, sensing that she might be a lost foreigner like him, grabbed a hold of Cher's arm before making his way through the tide of monks. 

Jonah managed to tap on the woman's shoulder after navigating through the storm of locals rushing in and out of the temple. The woman's sudden sharp turn followed by her maroon scarf whacking him on the face surprised him greatly. The woman slightly tipped her sunglasses downward and analyzed the pair of teens, before saying, "You! You two must be Jonah Joestar and Cher Chang! Follow me at once!" she ordered. The scarf suddenly latched itself onto Jonah's other arm, as if it was an extension of her body. It dragged Jonah and subsequently Cher along with the mysterious woman with an iron grip.

"Wha- Hey! What are you doing!" Jonah exclaims in a rather hushed but angry tone, careful not to make a scene. 

"Getting you out of that place. You're not supposed to be there." the woman said cooly. 

"And who are you to push us around?!" 

The woman looks at him with a weirdly smug look, lips curled into a smirk, giving off a 'do-you-not-know-who-I-am' vibe. She then quickly drags them into an open door, where a staircase lies in its place. 

"Follow me. We have a seperate living quarters for visitors." she said, dodging his question. By then, Cher got rather annoyed due to being continuously tugged away by Jonah; his grip was rather rough on her arm too. She wrenched her arm away and was about to give the big guy a piece of her mind when she noticed something odd about the woman. On her neck, there were several markings inked there, somewhat similar to the ones she learned in Alkahestry. However, it was too dark for her to properly decipher completely what it meant. She 'nudged' Jonah by lightly jabbing his right arm before whispering, "Jonah, I think she's one of the practitioners here." 

"Are you sure? She looks like a haughty bitch to me." he said, rather annoyed that he's being pulled around like a doll by someone who doesn't seem to be a local. 

"Why yes, I am one of the practitioners here. By the way, I heard that young man." the young woman overhears their conversation. Her scarf, as if haunted by a spirit, suddenly sparked with life and immediately gave Jonah a tight slap on the face which made Jonah stumble over from the recoil. On his right cheek now lies a very bright red mark where the scarf had hit him. Jonah winces in pain and massages his cheek; the strength of the slap unlike anything he had ever felt before. Cher just looked at him, giggling a little bit as she muttered something along the lines of, "You kinda deserved that." The woman, after seeing that his well-deserved punishment had been meted out, continued walking away, flicking her long hair towards Jonah as if he was a speck of dust towards her. And he kinda was, considering that woman was one of the master practitioners of the Ripple in the temple. 

"Hohoho, it's good to see you again, Lisa Lisa!" an old voice called out to her. At the end of the staircase, there was an empty room, save for a few candles which dimly lit the room with a soft orange glow. This room was a connector which lead to three other hallways. Smack in the centre of the room, Ya Ya was seated comfortably on a purple-colored pillow. 

"It's a pleasure to see you again too, Ya Ya." the woman replied jovially, while still maintaining her rather cool attitude. 

"Ya Ya, who is this woman?! She slapped me!" 

"Oh, her? She is none other than Master Lisa, one of our finest masters here. I see you had the pleasure of meeting her." Ya Ya responded with a cheerful attitude. Jonah's jaw dropped; so Cher's intuition was right!

"Called it. Anyway, Ya Ya, where did you go? We lost you among the crowd and Lisa Lisa found us!" Cher asked. 

"Oh- I went-" 

"He went to the kitchen to get a snack. Then he snuck in here using a secret passageway only accessible to users of the Ripple." she jutted in and said what she saw in a monotonous voice akin to someone reading off a script. The way she said it seems that he had pulled this stunt countless times to other visitors. 

"The old man needs some food to stay fit you know…" he chuckled shamelessly. 

"Master Ya Ya, I was told that you were bringing students. Who are these two?" 

"Oh them? They are my students." 

"Pardon?" 

"They are my students."

Lisa Lisa seemed to question Ya Ya's judgement for a moment. Maybe she didn't hear it right, or maybe the old monk had finally lost his marbles. 

"Alright… if that's the case. I will leave the kids to you." She strolled off into the room to the right, the tap of her heels slowly fading away as she walked. Right when Lisa Lisa was out of sight, he heaved a sigh of relief. 

"That woman is a real piece of work, I tell ya." he said, faking an Amestrian accent as he did so. 

"You tell me. She slapped me! With her scarf!" Jonah whined. 

"I would have slapped you with my scarf if you called me a haughty bitch as well, you know." Cher remarked. 

"Oh my. You got off easy. She can be really rough when she wants to. She once wrestled me into submission because I borrowed her scarf!" 

"Really?!" the pair said in unison. 

"Nah, it was… hyperbole? Right it was hyperbole. But you get the point. She's a tough tiger." he said, engaging in some banter with the youngsters. 

"Anyway, do you remember what you are here for?" Ya Ya's expression turned from 'fun-uncle' to a very serious grandpa in a near instant. 

"Right, to learn the way of the ripple." Cher said, returning his seriousness with a suitably respectful attitude. Jonah lagged behind a little bit and quickly stood at attention like a soldier before repeating Cher's exact words. 

"Very well," he stood up from his pillow, hands folded behind his back. His head tilted forward, his eyes now giving a menacing glare towards the two teenagers. 

"Your training starts now."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By the way, in case you haven't noticed, Tabby isn't writing for this story anymore, so from now on I'm fully steering this story. You might find a little quality drop as I am not good at writing some parts, but rest assured I will try to pick up soon. Adios.


End file.
